The day the world stood still
by Naeura
Summary: My unfortunate story begins long in the past. Two arrogant Uchiha and a vile village that has decided they could control fate. I have spent my entire life as a chess piece just being moved around by those who know me, and those who don't care enough about the people under them to even think twice. Rated M for mature themes and later lemon. Slow burn!
1. All hell breaks loose

My unfortunate story begins long in my past. With two arrogant Uchiha and a vile village that has decided they could control fate. I have spent my entire life as a chess piece just being moved around by those who know me…. And those who don't care enough about the people under them to even think twice. To them, human life is expendable, and it will always be until someone changes the facts that the world revolves around. For the longest time, it has been an ongoing struggle of who can hurt who more and the most painful of ways. This is that story. I will re-write the fate of those around me and overthrow it all…... for an Uchiha.

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I ran and ran. Checking every door, I came across, in hopes that my labor would bear fruit. I was looking for a man who left me long ago, with eyes of red and a heart of stone. My breathing heavy and painful. Endurance had never been my strong suit, though I was a hundred times better then I could have ever been on my own. Tsunade had made sure I got better. Try getting hit with a boulder twelve times your size that's going 50 mph plus a few times and you get better quick. That shit hurts when it hits you.

Another door in my face. Opening it I find nothing but an empty room, but there's something different in this one. It smells like him. Sandalwood, musk, and smoke assault my nose as I open the door and step in. A smell so distinct to him that I've never smelled anything like it, and I hate it. Shutting the door, I continue, knowing eventually I will find him. I'm not looking forward to seeing him again. That day 2 years ago broke me, he left me on a bench out cold instead of taking me with him and I can't forgive him for that. He made his choice, And I have made mine.

An explosion interrupts my train of thought and I race to the scene, knowing full well what I will find, or better yet WHO I will find. Sai stands still as a statue looking into the sun. Following suit, I look up and there he stands in all his glory. Sasuke Uchiha looks down on us, as he has always done and will likely continue to do unless I can take that arrogant asshole down. Which I fully intend so to do.

"Sasuke…." I breathe out as my chest heaves from all my running.

"Sakura. So, you have come along too." Perhaps the longest sentence he has ever directed at me.

Naruto charges in, headstrong and brainless as always. Nearly knocking me over as he puts on the breaks and lands just centimeters from my right side.

"Sasuke. You're coming home. With us. Now." He shouts at the dark-haired man that still stands on the edge of the massive crater he has made.

"I don't believe that to be true, I think you will breathe your last breath here. At my hand. I let you live last time we saw each other out of sheer pity. Who would poor useless Sakura cry on without you? That mistake has haunted me for some time. Guess I should fix that." He drilled on as he moved from the affixed spot on the top of the hill.

In the blink of an eye, he's standing there, just to the side of Naruto, but still too close for comfort. His speed is off the charts. I watch in slow motion as he pulls his blade. Bringing it down with precision that has been drilled in since he left by his new teacher. I close my eyes as the battle begins, knowing full well that I wouldn't reach Naruto in time to stop the blade from taking his life. This would not stop me from trying. Using my chakra, I push off toward the man who is trying to kill my best friend. Pushing my fist forward with chakra flowing through it, battle cry on my lips, I go to land a hit on his pretty face, only to miss.

"The fuck! Where did he go?" I murmur as I look around for him. Knowing full well that he could appear from anywhere.

"You've grown quite beautiful. I wonder if your training has made you strong as well. I will enjoy breaking you." He whispers into my ear from behind.

When the hell had he gotten behind me? How had he gotten behind me? I checked my blind spots.

"Not well enough. It was easy to get here. You're still that same weak girl I knew. Still the same insignificant character. The one I left on the bench so long ago. " He breaths into my ear like the snake he is. Willing me to be the same girl he knew me to be.

"I'm not that same girl! The one who cried when you left. The one who died when you left her alone, in the cold. That girl is gone. Now you have to deal with me. And trust me, I'm a whole lot scarier now." I elbowed him in the gut, earning a surprised grunt and flipped away from him. Smirking the whole way till I hit sai.

"Sorry, Sai. It's hard to see when I am flipping. Now let's get him! Crow formation!" I shouted as I charged with Naruto at my left, Sai at my right. Kakashi as back up.

Naruto made 3 shadow clones and grabbed his rasengan while Sai made beasts of his ink to attack. The beasts attack first, giving Naruto cover to go in for the kill. Meanwhile, Kakashi is digging underground and I simply charge in right after Naruto. I got the idea from Ino.

Sasuke sends snakes after the beasts while he focuses on Naruto. Taking out his clones with grace and precision. The real Naruto lands a glancing blow as he too is deflected by Sasuke as he moves through the battle with ease. I catch him by surprise though. Landing a chakra laid punch into his face sending him flying into the wall. The blow creates a crater in the wall of the base that was five times the size of Sasuke.

"I told you I wasn't the same. Now you can feel it." I hollered at him as I charged in.

Running as fast as I could, I manage to land three different hits. One to his chest, another to his chin and a third to his eye. His precious freaking eyes. In a quick session, I managed to send him flying again into another part of the battle where Kakashi was waiting with his hounds. Soon as he touched the ground near the hounds, they were on him. Hounds holding him in place as Kakashi lit up a Chidori to send him out.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you _sensei_." Sasuke sneered as Kakashi landed his blow.

The only thing that came from Kakashi's hit is that Sasuke redirected his own hit back at Kakashi. Throwing off the dogs who all disappeared with a poof. Kakashi down, three others were left to go. Grabbing his katana, he rushed the one known as Sai only to find his blow a miss.

"If you want to hurt him, you will have to go through me first," I said as I broke his katana with my fist.

The pieces flew up in the air and within a second they were embedded within my leg. Sasuke having launched them just after I broke them. The pain was minor and didn't even slow me down. I leaned down and pulled both pieces from my leg and healed it automatically.

"Your going to have to better than that if you expect to win Sasuke. I have a severely high pain tolerance."

"I'll be glad to test that limit for you." Sasuke smirked.

The real battle had begun. Grabbing him, I threw him as far as my strength would let me. Following it up with numerous kunai I was sure to get at least one hit. And one hit was all I got, right in his left bicep. His left arm would be hindered as I had just cut a ligament of his arm. It would not be easy to use now.

That only seemed to make him smile more. A smile that was full of nothing but malice and tension. Something gleamed in his eyes, something that shook me to my very core. That look in his eyes was enough to turn my blood cold, to make me stop where I stood.

Next thing I knew, a new blade was at my neck. Close enough that I could feel the cold of the steel and the sharpness of its blade, but not enough that it cut me. Yet.

"Sa-Ku-Ra. That actually hurt." He chuckled darkly into my ear.

"It was meant to. Get off me." I sneered at him.

"No." He whispered. "I will see you shortly. For now, enjoy your freedom. There is so little time left for you now."

The next thing I felt was a knife, cutting from my shoulder to my hip, tearing through my flesh with reckless abandon followed by a burning smell. He had used his Chidori at the same time to simultaneously burn my flesh right after slicing it open.

"Naruto. Come get her."

Next thing I knew. My world was dark. The last thing I saw was Naruto racing toward me as I headed toward the ground.


	2. The beginning of it all

**Hi guys. This is my first fanfic and I'm not one much for explaining myself. But I hope that you will all enjoy my story. Just as a forewarning, my story will not be a fairytale. It's not full of butterflies and sugar and spice. This is a story that is full of pain and suffering. So if you don't like that kind of stuff, best shove off back to the main page now. But for my lovelies who enjoy my mind and all its ramblings, have fun.**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own naruto. Wish I did. All the things that I would do.**

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As Sakura fell to the ground, Naruto ran as fast as he could to catch her, only to flip to the right to avoid a swinging katana aimed for his head. Sakura's blood flecking onto his face as he avoided the blade. H saw that Sakura's blood was pooling underneath her to the ground.

"I won't make it that easy on you. You're going to have to work to get her back. Every time you fail, I'm going to give our dear Sakura here a little gift." Sasuke punctuated his statement with a nick to Sakura's left thigh. He watched in morbid fascination as more of her blood pooled on the crunched ground beneath her.

"You bastard! Give me Sakura-chan back!" Naruto yelled as he charged again.

Running at Sasuke with everything he had Naruto launched a punch at Sasuke, landing it right into Sasuke's stomach, Naruto sends him flying several feet into a wall, indenting it with his back. Naruto grabs Sakura with his left hand and swings her over his shoulder and began to take his leave, only to find that Sasuke had already blocked his route out. A swift kick to Naruto's face returned Sakura to Sasuke's hands.

"You failed a second time Naruto." He smirked as he took a kunai to Sakura's arm and gave it a slice as well, the blood pumping out of the wound satisfactorily.

"You bastard! Stop hurting Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted.

"Get her away from me and I will. Come on now, I haven't got all day."

Naruto charged again and got shot back by a punch of Sasukes. Snakes now surrounded him as he got more and more engrossed in the battle. Sakura lay almost forgotten behind him bleeding out. What he failed to realize is that Kakashi had woken up and was very slowly inching his way to Sakura's aid. He almost made it, but at the very last second, Sasuke noticed him.

"Ah uh. I wouldn't try that Kakashi." He said as a snake bit into Kakashi's arm and sent him flying into a jagged wall.

Grabbing Sakura, he took his blade and cut open a nice four-inch cut on her cheek. Blood flowed from it, but slowly.

"Naruto. Sakura is running out of blood. I would hurry and save her while she is still alive." Sasuke said as he caressed her cheek.

"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Naruto said as he made well over a hundred clones and charged.

Throwing over a hundred punches, Naruto managed to bypass Sasuke's defense and knock him off guard. Grabbing Sakura, he ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction of Sasuke. Using his clones to shield him from Sasuke's snakes and his blade. Eventually, he was joined by Kakashi and Sai and they got away. Out of sight of the Uchiha who has just begun to stand. What they don't see is Sasuke's smirk, or the Sharingan spinning in his eyes as he watched them leave.

"Finally, something interesting. I never would have expected her to fight back. Perhaps I should pay more attention to what is going on at home" He laughed darkly as he grabbed his broken katana and headed into the dark of the base. He was going to make plans that he would in time enact.

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My head was pounding as I woke from my sleep. Opening my eyes the light hurt like never before. It felt like someone was inserting a hot poker into my eye socket and twisting it. Groaning I sat up and placed my hand on my head. Hoping it would remain quiet as I took in my surroundings, I was greeted by deep blue eyes. Naruto's voice screeched into my ears as he noticed I was awake.

"Sakura! You're awake. How are you feeling!? Do you feel okay? I bandaged you up to the best I could. I'm not an awesome medical Ninja like you. I hope it's okay. I hope you're okay." he blurted out in rapid-fire like he always does.

"Naruto. You're too loud. I seem to be fine. Other than a pounding headache and for some reason, several parts of me hurt I'm fine. What do you mean you bandaged me up? Where did I need bandaging?" I asked as I finished sitting up.

" Your thigh, face, and arm. Sasuke cut it you up a few times during the fight. He was playing some sick game. You got caught in our crossfire. Sorry." Naruto whimpered as he rubbed the back of his head.

" Oh. I'll take a look at it when we get back to Konoha. For now, it looks like it was well done. I don't see any dirt on the bandage. Thanks for taking care of me while I was out…" I said as I looked to the ground.

" Don't worry Sakura-chan. We will get him to come home. Together." Naruto voiced as he patted me on the back." Are you hungry? Dinner is almost done. Kaka-sensei is cooking for us. Said it would be a real treat."

" If it's anything like last time we might just die. He doesn't know when to stop with the salt. It's like eating a block of it." I laughed with Naruto as we thought of the last mission, we had been sent on with Kakashi-sensei. It had been a long time ago.

" Hey now, my cooking isn't that bad. It's just better seasoned than your used to. Now eat up. After we finish here were going to head home. Tsunade is going to want a full report and Shizune will want to debrief us as soon." Kakashi-sensei stated as he gave us each a plate.

"Thanks, Kaka-sensei. It smells good. Let's hope it tastes just as good as it looks." I said as I took the plate, he handed me.

Taking a bite, I realized that it did indeed taste good. He had learned how to season his food.

"Wow. This is so good! Way to go!" Naruto exclaimed.

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" So let me get this straight, you did find Sasuke and he got away. Afterword, you guys headed back. Did I cover everything in a nutshell?" Tsunade stated as she spent time going over every little detail with an impressive force.

" Yes, we tracked him to the base using ninja dogs and an old shirt of his. We then separated and went our separate ways. Later I heard an explosion and came running to find Sasuke and Sai having a lovely conversation. A small squabble and then I wake up at camp." I told her as she read over my written report.

"Good. Now all of you. Go home and get some rest. It's well-earned now." Tsunade waved us away and went back to her sake.

I turned to leave and walked right into Kakashi's chest. "Sakura. Do you mind if we take a moment to talk?" He chuckled as he helped to steady me.

"Sure. Can we walk towards my house as we talk? Or is it something that needs to done more privately?" I asked him as we began walking.

" What happened out there? You froze. I haven't seen you freeze like that since you were a genin. What did he say to you?" He asked concerned.

" He said that he would …. that he would enjoy breaking me… what the hell does that even mean! Kakashi what did he mean?" I asked him, my voice breaking different octaves as my brain tried it's best to keep up.

" I'm not sure. But I can promise you one thing. He won't have the chance to even look at you. Much less be able to put his hands on you. I will protect you with my life. After all, you were my student first and now my family. I'll take care of you." He said as he gave me a hug.

Hugging back I thanked him and walked into my house. It was a little dusty as I hadn't really been home in some time. I had been sleeping in the office at work due to the long hours that I had been pulling for the last two months. I put my bag down and sat on my couch, coughing as the dust flew up to greet me. I knew I would need to go shopping here soon as most of my food had gone bad.

Sighing as I got back up and went to my linen closet and grabbed new sheets to put on my bed as I knew that my old ones were dirty. " I need to make sure I get home more often. I might start to forget where things are in my own home" I giggled as I pulled the old sheets the bed to replace them with the new.

" Next ups long bath. God do I need it. This has not been an easy last few days." I said as I ran the bath. Adding bath salts and oils to help get rid of the dirt from the journey.

Stepping into the tub it burned like fire. I had forgotten to take off the bandages and heal myself. I sat on the tub and healed up everything from the head down. I was still low on chakra from the battle and didn't have much energy to deal with it all. After unwrapping bandages and sitting in the tub for an hour, I was ready to face the world again.

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Coming out from her bath, Sakura felt more relaxed than she had in weeks. What she failed to notice was that she was no longer alone in her home. Humming as she went to the pantry, she grabbed a packet of ramen to make for a quick dinner. Putting water into a pot she put it on the stove and turned on the burner.

" You should pay more attention to your surroundings Sa-Ku-Ra, someone might sneak in and take you" she heard a deep voice say as she was pushed into the stove.

Her hands were covered by hands much larger than her own. The grip on her hands were ironclad. Holding her in place with his grip. She could feel his breath on her ear, warm and moist. He smelled of cedar and smoke.

"Sasuke. What the hell are you doing here? Get the hell off me." She squirmed as he only pressed harder, the edge of the stove cutting into her stomach.

" No. I will never let you go. You've shown me that you're willing to fight me. Which for some reason, interests me. So, I decided to come and get you. You have 5 minutes to pack a bag." Sasuke said as he pushed me into the bedroom.

"Hell no. You had better either leave now or I swear I will report you to Tsunade. I am not going anywhere with you." She yelled at him as she threw a lamp at him.

He dodged the lamp and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her toward him. It only served to make him smirk. He knew he was faster than her, stronger than her, better than her. He wanted to make it fun though. Suddenly an idea piped into his head. " How about we make a deal then?" He smirked as he grabbed her fists in one of his hands and tossed her into his lap.

" I'm not making any deals with you. You deranged…. you deranged asshat!" She squeaked out at their intimate position. She was not having any of this, squirming around to try and get out of his hold she noticed something under her. It was uncomfortable and hard. " OH MY GOD. Really? You're getting off on this?"

" Well, you are moving around in my lap. I assume you knew what you were doing, Now be quiet and listen to me. Three days from now, meet me on our old training ground. We will spar and see who is the strongest, to the winner of the spoils. If I win you will leave with me. No fighting and no fussing. Understand?" He said with an air of dominance.

" What will I get if I win?" She asked curiously now.

" I'll come back to the village and stay. Do we have a deal? You can bring whoever you like to watch as well. Just know I'll be handing you your ass on a silver platter." He stated with a semi-blank expression.

" We need Tsunade to give permission for something like that. That's a deal the village would have to-" I started, but he cut me off by shoving a paper into my hands that was written in Tsunade's own hand that gave the approval of such a deal. " She seriously already agreed to this. When did you put this in motion!"

" Started about a week ago. I beat you guys here. Now, do yourself a favor and get some rest. I knew that you would never willingly leave with me, so I had to get creative. I'll leave you be for the time in between our bout, but you better be ready when the time comes. Ne, pet?" He said as he stood, putting her on her own feet and walked to the door. " Just so you know, I do not tolerate disobedience. It will be severely punished. See you in three days."

With that Sasuke was gone, leaving Sakura to mull over everything that had just occurred. Could she win? Was she strong enough to win? How would she even do it? So many questions through her head as she looked at the paper. Could she bring him home? She got up and turned off the stove, no longer hungry and headed to bed.

" I have to try" was the last thing she said as she fell into a deep sleep.


	3. the Winner

Hi guys. I'm back. Soooooooo. Writing the fight was so freaking hard. It was my first battle scene and I hope it turned out well. I hope you enjoy this new chapter as it took me a while to write. It's snowing like crap outside and I couldn't make it to work so you get to reap the rewards. Enjoy everyone!

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" How could you sanction this?! Why? I mean Tsunade…..You know I can't beat him. He's stronger, faster, better than me…..Tsunade I can't win." I cried to her, pounding my fist on her desk. " How can I even try?"

"Sakura. Get hold of yourself. I sanctioned it because I believe that you will be able to win. He may be faster, but he is not stronger and he sure as hell is not better than you. I know you can do this. You have all your training behind you to help. You have all the tools you need. Now fight. Win. I know you can." Tsunade pepped me up with her words.

" How can you be so sure? I feel like I am being ripped apart. I don't know what to do." I whimpered into her shoulder.

"Because I trained you myself. There is nothing you can't accomplish. This will simply be another notch under your belt. Now go get some rest. You have a busy few days ahead to prepare for." Tsunade pushed me out of the office and into the hallway. " Go home and rest. You'll need everything at your disposal to do this mission. Oh, and by the way, this is an assigned mission for you. Bring Sasuke Uchiha home."

"Yes, Tsunade. I will bring him home." I said as I closed the door to the room. Knowing I would need new weapons, I made sure to stop by the shop to pick up the ones I had asked for months ago as they were hard to get hands on. Then I went home to rest like ordered.

-Day of the Battle-

Sakura arrived on the grounds early, having Kakashi, Naruto, Sai, Shizune and Tsunade in tow behind her. She was well over an hour early, hoping to beat Sasuke there. She did not succeed as he was already there waiting for her arrival.

"You're here early. Must be eager to come home. Sasuke- _Kun._ " Sakura said as she began to pull on her black gloves. "Know that I will not be going easy on you in any way. This I can promise you. If you want to take me, it may very well take your last breath."

"Oh. How feisty. Someone's had their pep talk. How wonderful. All the more a fight for me." He said gleefully with that stupid Uchiha smirk of his.

"This is an official match between Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. The winner will determine the losers fate. Get into positions and tell me when you are ready." Tsunade yelled out at both Sasuke and Sakura.

"Ready," Sakura muttered determinedly. Getting into defense position.

"Hn," Sasuke smirked, grabbed his katana, pulled it from its sheath and stepped forward.

"Begin!" Tsunade shouted as the battle began.

Sakura disappeared, reappearing right in front of Sasuke. With a kick to his chest, Sasuke flew back and crashed into multiple trees. Getting up to his feet, Sasuke smirked and then was gone. Sakura looked around, left, right, behind. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Sakura punching the ground, her chakra enhanced fist giving her an edge as a crater formed around her. Sasuke in the middle of the ground below her.

" Why would you think that would work? Headhunter is so easy to see even genin can blow right past it. How stupid can you be? You're supposed to be an Uchiha. Best of the best. Brightest of our class. Guess even geniuses can be dumb too huh?" Sakura smirked as she pulled him out of the ground and threw him across the field.

She pushed forward and flew at him, left fist raised to deliver a blow that would most likely incapacitate the Uchiha and win her the battle. As she grew closer and closer to the Uchiha that lay against a tree, his head down. All of the sudden, she was attached to the ground, chakra threads trapping her arms and legs.

"And I thought that you were smarter than you were in our genin days. How could you not notice my traps? With all this time, you're still the same girl that I knew so many years ago." Sasuke said as he stood over Sakura, aiming his katana at her right shoulder and let it drop.

There was not a sound made as the blade pierced through her flesh and then into the ground. Missing any vital points while still inflicting the most damage that it could. Sakura bit her lip and managed to not make a move or sound. Tsunade had done conditioning training to work on her pain tolerance and it was now incredibly high. Sasuke twisted the blade inside of her shoulder in order to glean a cry from her and he was disappointed as she did not make a noise.

" You think this hurts? Try having Tsunade throw boulders at you for hours, or having Ibiki use his information techniques on you for days. This is nothing." Sakura pushed through her teeth as she broke the threads holding her down. Pulling the katana from her shoulder. " This is nothing to me, but I can bet you one thing. I can hurt you."

Pulling her hand up she healed the wound Sasuke had given her and then disappeared. Next thing, she was behind Sasuke, katana in hand. Driving it through his shoulder and then into the tree behind him. His back striking the bark and staining it red like rubies. She touched various parts of his body with her had. Having enhanced it with her chakra to cut up his muscles wherever it hit, Sasuke was soon on the ground. Unable to move, let alone fight.

" I win. Now you can come home." Sakura shouted from her knees.

Her legs had given out from the use of her chakra.

Sasuke smiled. A genuine smile that seemed to have a creepy undertone to it. Sakura did not like this smile. It could not be good. Next thing she knew, her back hit a tree and she had blood in her mouth. Sliding down the tree, she looked forward to where the hit had come from. Sasuke stood there in full view, the sun shining on him. He was completely uninjured. Sakura had been duped. It had all been a genjutsu. An illusion.

" Sa-Ku-Ra." He cooed as he stepped toward her. " You were always good with genjutsu. What happened? You were so sure of yourself. How could you not see it? From the very beginning of this fight, the moment you showed up here today, you lost. You were never going to win. Give up now Sakura." He sniped as he walked closer and closer to Sakura, his eyes following every breath of her chest.

"Never. Why would I give you the pleasure of giving myself over to you? Why? After years, and years, would you all of the sudden have an interest in me? When I finally gave up on you! How could you possibly think that I would just let you do what you want? Fat fucking chance! You can go the fuck to hell!" Sakura roared as she charged at the Uchiha with all her might.

Throwing fist after chakra enhanced fist at Sasuke who only took the time to dodge them. Sakura couldn't connect a hit to his smug face. Aiming for his stomach she finally managed to catch him off guard and landed a hit. It sent him flying and the crowd that had gathered cheering. It had grown. Now containing most of the rookie nine and their sensei. She flew after the Uchiha in a fit of rage, landing hit after hit on him. She could feel that she was winning. Until all of the sudden...she wasn't.

Sasuke had caught the fist that she had just thrown her way, gripping her fist with such intensity that she could feel the bones beginning to crack under the pressure. He pulled her forward and threw her against the tree he had been standing against. Grabbing both of her hands in one, he pulled them over her head and held them there. His face centimeters away from hers.

"You never had a shot. I'm glad you fought and I hope you will still continue to amuse me as I get to play with you and break you. But for now, I need you to be a little more submissive to me. Otherwise, I might have to do something that will hurt you, and I don't exactly want to hurt you that much." Sasuke whispered into her ear, his breath licking the lobe as he talked.

"Never. Get. Of. Me. Before I make you regret ever having set eyes on me." Sakura struggled against him.

Sasuke chuckled and pulled out a kunai from his holster. Eyeing her gleefully, he brought it down and shoved it mercilessly through her hands that he had placed one on top of the other. Earning him a whimper from Sakura as the blade hit the wood under her hands and blood trickled down her arms staining her shirt with red. He stepped back and grabbed his katana and plunged it into her thigh and into the wood underneath it as well. This time getting a small scream from her. He stepped back and began to admire his work. Sakura had stopped struggling and now looked at him with fear in her eyes. "I'll give you one more chance. Submit and I won't hurt you anymore."

"Go. To. Hell. Uchiha." Sakura spat at him with all the venom she could muster.

"I hoped you would say that." Sasuke stalked closer to her and pulled out an engraved knife from his belt.

He pulled the sheath off and used it to slice through Sakura's shirt to just below her breasts. Opening it with his hands, he ripped it the rest of the way. He looked her over hungrily and spent time looking at her. Determining the best location to place his mark. Deciding to place it just over her left breast he put the blade on her skin. Slicing through it as if it were butter he carved the letter "S" as large as he could. Making sure to dig in just enough that it would scar on her. He could hear her cries and he chose to ignore them. Finished with his mark he grabbed at the kunai and then the katana that held Sakura captive for him and pulled them from the flesh they impaled. Sakura fell to the ground in front of him and he pulled her to her knees and kept her there.

He grabbed at something and pulled it out. It was a chakra collar. Kneeling down beside Sakura, he held her weight as she swooned against him, only half awake through the pain, and put it around her neck. With a resounding click that was heard on the battlefield, it set in place and turned on. Immediately restricting her chakra flow and finalizing the deal that had been made. Sasuke had won. He picked her up in his arms and turned toward the crowd.

"I win. Sakura is now mine. We will take our leave now. As per the contracts signed by you the Hokage. We are free to go. No one is to follow me. Understood?" Sasuke shouted out to them and walked away. Sakura laying bloody in his arms.

"Tsunade! We have to go after him. Get Sakura back!" Naruto sprang and began to move.

"Stop. We have to let him go. Konoha made a bet and lost. Sakura is his now. We can do nothing." Tsunade said as she turned her back to them to hide the fact that she was crying.

"But Tsunade..." Kakashi started but was then cut off.

"Don't go there Kakashi. I gave an order. Now everyone, go home." Tsunade shouted at him. " Shizune, go get me sake. A lot of it. We are going to be pulling an all-nighter. I signed that contract, but I will be damned if I can't find Sakura a way out of it."


	4. The Contract

All right guys. I have another chapter for you. First things first. I want to thank those who have reviewed, favorited and set for alerts my story.

Danah94

FalconBirdx

Freedomcat75

Lenaar

Pastapower

Hellchan93

Revanchist21

Bemine8

.Sasori

Thank you guys so much. Reviews are amazing and keep me going. I know its just the beginning, but I am so happy to have so many people like my story. I hope you all like what I have written. Now on to the story! Enjoy

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Sasuke walked into the Sound base with Sakura in his arms. He had made a stop along the way and wrapped up her wounds to make sure she didn't bleed to death on the way over to sound. He didn't spend all that time setting her up for failure just to lose her. He settled her into his bed and grabbed the shackle that he had prepared previously. Placing it around her ankle, he made a few signs with his hands and it glowed as it locked in place. Sasuke then got up and grabbed the stack of clothes from his table and place it next to Sakura so that when she woke up she would be able to change. He had spent a week figuring out exactly what he wanted her to wear that first day he would have her. Now he just wanted her awake. Awake and afraid, that look in her eyes got him so riled up. Watching her fear him. Knowing he was the object of that fear.

"Sakura. Sakura Wake up." Sasuke whispered as he shook her awake.

"Nugh. What now? Can't you leave me alone? Even in my dreams, you won't leave me alone. Just go the fuck away." Sakura said as she rolled over, suddenly hissing in pain as she rolled over onto a large cut that was on her side.

"You have exactly 3 seconds to wake up and sit up. If you don't, there will be consequences." Sasuke commanded into the silence of the room.

"I'm not dreaming. Am I?" Sakura said as she sat up and grabbed her head which was pounding like hell.

"No, you're not. Now up. There is a bath over there that I have run for you to clean up and there are clothes here for you to change into when you're clean." Sasuke ordered as he stood.

"Why should I follow anything you have to say? You just kidnapped me from my home. There is no reason I should cooperate with anything you have to say." Sakura countered as she stood. "You are nothing but an egotistical asshole who couldn't care about anyone or anything but himself! You can take your bath and you can both go to hell!"

"Sakura. I'm not in the habit of asking a second time. I would suggest you do as told, and I did not kidnap you. We signed a binding contract and I intend to keep up my side of things. Now, you go take a bath or will I have to bathe you myself? Hmm?" Sasuke smirked and tossed her a towel from his nightstand.

"Fine. Just go somewhere else. I don't want to see you." Sakura ordered as she went toward the door of the bathroom.

"Since when did you think it was okay to spend time ordering me around? It's the other way sweetheart. I own you now. You need to get used to that fact. You're never going back to Konoha and I need you to learn that fast. Otherwise, it could be quite painful for you." Sasuke demanded as he pinned the pink haired girl against the wall by the door of the bathroom.

Sasuke was enjoying having this power over her. How could he not? He now controlled the most powerful kunoichi in all the ninja lands and she would soon answer to only him. Follow his every command.

"Get off me. Now, Uchiha. Otherwise, I will make life very miserable for you. I'm not one of the sound whores that you can use and then throw away. You can't just think that I am the same girl you left on that park bench. She died so long ago I can't even remember when it happened. Now please get off me and leave me alone." Sakura fired off at the Uchiha who currently was holding her captive with his body.

Sasuke moved back and watched the girl he had just put so much work into getting into his viewpoint, slink away into the bathroom. He smirked and sat on his bed "Finally. Something fun. Orochimaru's men have been…irritatingly inept at keeping my interest." He moved through the room with the grace that is known in such high-class shinobi gave him, pulling out various items so that he could train while she was showering and eating the meal he would have delivered. Leaving the room, he sealed it with a jutsu that if Sakura left, it would leave a trail that he could follow and would also alert him that she had left.

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The bath felt heavenly, warm water washing away dried mud, blood, and sweat from Sakura's ivory skin. After the initial burn on her bruises and cuts, she had sunk into the bath and just laid there. Enjoying the warmth and security the bath gave her. It even smelled good, smelled like lavender and vanilla. Wrapping her head around all that had happened was an impossible task for her. She had lost the battle, and, in the process, she felt like she had lost herself and who she was. How could she even begin to process the last few days? Seconds turned into minutes and she still hadn't moved. The water turning a brownish rust red color, taking on the value that her skin had before the water washed it all away. Her hair was matted and would take forever to brush and make sure to get the dirt out.

"Fuck! This is…. I don't even… What the FUCK Sasuke." She screamed as she hit the wall, not hard enough to do damage, but still to feel it. "How the fuck am I supposed to deal with this? What am I supposed to do here? Why? Why does he want me here…?" She tried to rationalize as she reached for the soap. " The crap….. this is my soap. I figured that he wouldn't have even known what type of soap I use, much less having it here, ready to use. How long has he been planning this whole thing?" Washing her hair for the second time, just for good measure to make sure that all the dirt was gone and got out. The water looked like a battlefield. Red mixing with brown and all watered down with clear.

"Sasuke? Are you in here?" Sakura said into an empty room.

She looked around and saw that he was indeed gone and went into overdrive. Finding the clothes that Sasuke had placed on the bed, she quickly dressed and then began ransacking the room. Looking for anything that could be useful in a fight. Finding several kunai and shuriken in a draw she took them all and placed them into her pouch that lay strapped to her thigh. Grabbing a cloak from the closet, she snapped it around her neck and went to head out from the room. Only to find that she stopped short of the door. Her ankle was shackled. How had she not noticed this before?

"The crap! Am I a dog? Kept on a leash so that Sasuke can make sure that I am here. Stuck in his crappy ass room. You! Go get that fucking idiot and get him here. Now." Sakura roared at a passing sound ninja who jumped four feet in the air.

"Who?" She whimpered as she turned to Sakura.

"You know very well who. The douchewaffle who resides in this room. Sasuke Uchiha. Get him here. Now." Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs making the room shake and the ninja cower.

"No need Jessica. Go. I will take care of this matter. Do not talk of this to anyone or I will track you down and you will wish you had never been born." Sasuke's dark voice cut through the dark as he stepped forward. "Sakura, get back in the room. Now." He ordered.

"No. I don't want to. Our contract only stated that I had to leave with you. In no way am I obligated to obey your commands or make this easy for you. I intend to be the biggest pain in your ass that you have ever met." Sakura pouted and placed her hands on her chest, holding her head high, eyes determined, a slight smirk on her lips as she said this.

"hn." Was all Sasuke said as he kicked her into his room and she hit the back wall. " If you're going to be a nuisance, I will have to make sure that you have a very unhappy time here. I fully intend on keeping you with me for quite some time, perhaps even years. If you decide you don't want to cooperate with me, I can make your life a living hell. That is not my intention, but it can be. Sakura, you decide your fate here. If you make things easy, things will be easy for you. If you decide to be difficult… I will have to punish you and you will feel a pain that is unimaginable. Do you understand Sakura?" Sasuke told Sakura as she stood up.

By the time he had finished his monologue, he was face to face with Sakura. Bearly an inch between the two of them. Sasuke looked at her. His onyx eyes promising things to her. His smirk plastered on his face as he grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head. Sasuke dipped his head so that he was face to face with the girl.

"Do you understand? Sakura, your life was signed into my hands. I can do whatever I wish with you, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do. I want things to be easy for us. Will you make it easy? Or will I need to teach you how to submit to me?" Sasuke murmured into Sakura's neck as he bit the thin skin just below her jaw, leaving slight imprints on the skin.

"Sasuke. Why am I really here?" Sakura asked as she held back a moan.

"You're my pet. You will be wherever I decide I want to have you. For now, your coming with me. We need to see someone." Sasuke said as he let go of her hand and grabbed at the cuff around her ankle, removing the chain.

"Who?" Sakura cupped her neck right where he had bitten her.

"I need to write my name on my new toy."

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Whew. That took me some time. Sorry, the update is late. I try to get a chapter out every two weeks. I will try to continue that. Let me know how you liked it lovelies. Till then.


	5. The Mark

Hi! I ran a little late with this chapter due to the fact that I had to restart my term paper, take my finals as well as study for said finals. but I am working on it now for yall. I'm very excited for this chapter as it was really fun to write. Let me know what yall think of it. But I won't talk about anything else. As always I don't own Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura. Or anyone from Naruto. That is all Masashi Kishimoto who made them up, and I adore him for it.

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Sakura followed Sasuke around the winding corridor of the sound base. Knowing where she was from the very distinct walls that the base had. The spiral scrolling walls that seemed to never end. Thank god Sakura had Sasuke, otherwise, she never would have found her way around. Sasuke's warm hand wrapped its way around hers as he pulled her through the endless corridors.

"Sasuke. Where exactly are we going? Stop pulling so hard, my arm is going to rip off!" she shouted as she pulled her arm from his grasp.

"I told you. I want to write my name on my new toy. I can only trust one guy to help me with that endeavor, so I am taking you to Kaoru. Now stop whimpering and let's go. You don't want to keep her waiting." Sasuke remarked as he grabbed her hand again.

This time the grip was much tighter, allowing for no argument as his grip almost cut off the circulation to her hand. She knew there would be a bruise there later, but kept her mouth shut. Pulling her along with him, Sasuke lead Sakura around many corners and down so many hallways that she completely lost all track of where they had started, much less as to where they would be now. Sometime later, they hastened into a room that was very dimly lit with an ominous blue light that seemed to come from nowhere and ebbed in and out. Once inside the room, the door was closed, and they stood together in the light.

Inside of the room was a woman, her long black hair was tied high into a ponytail that was almost on top of her head and cascaded down her back ending just below her bottom. She looked to be about 17 or 18. She was sitting on a chair that was situated next to a table that held another man with red hair. She was in the middle of marking him up with her gun when her piercing green eyes looked up, having noticed the two-extra people in the room with her.

"Scram. I'll finish it later, Clay." She blushed as she got up to greet the new guests. "Uchiha. Never thought I'd have the pleasure to have you in my chair. What brings you in? And uh…... who's your new lady friend. I highly doubt she's one of Orochimaru's floozies. She to…...ugh what's the word? Peppy! That's it. She's too peppy looking to be from the sound. A new pet maybe?" Kaora seductively enticed Sasuke as she sauntered up to him.

"Not a floozie. Not Orochimaru's. Mine. Now help me mark my property properly." Sasuke growled at the girl darkly.

"Fine, fine. Come over here uh…."

"Sakura. Sakura Haruno." Sakura broke in politely to the young girl.

"No FUCKING way. The slug princess?! That Sakura? Tsunade's apprentice. The next sanin? That Sakura? That's you?" Kaoru gushed as she grabbed Sakura's hand.

"Uh…. yeah, I guess I am, though I will say I have never been so well received. Most people look over me at my mentor for whatever they want. I've never really mattered too much to anyone." Sakura muttered as she was embraced by the girl.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Your AMAZING! You took Sasori of the red sand, healed the kazekage and helped save his life, your one of the legendary sanin with the power of healing to rival all but the legendary Tsunade and strength of 100 men. You have done so much." Kaoru exclaimed at Sakura who in the aftermath stood shocked to her very core.

"I like you kid. Maybe we will be able to spend a little more time together- Ahh!" Sakura exclaimed as she was pushed forward.

Sasuke had pushed Sakura forward in an effort to get the two girls to just shut the hell up. Sakura then topped onto Kaoru and they both landed on the ground. One on top of the other in a big pile of irritated girl.

"Sasuke what the hell is wrong with you." Kaoru shrilled at him in a huff.

"Get her in the chair and get started. I really don't have all day. I have training to do while you are marking her up." Sasuke smirked at the two girls as they got up and helped one another up as well.

"Don't have to be an ass about it. Do you have anything picked out? Or did you want me to get artistic with it? Also, where did you want it?" Kaoru got right to work mode and helped Sakura into the chair.

"I've got it here, and I want it on her upper arm on the outside. Similar to an Anbu marking. I'll be back in a few hours for her. Be done by then and I'll make sure to bring you some of your favorite sweets when I come back from rain next week. Got it?" he teased the young girl.

"From that shop I love? Really? You mean it?" Kaoru shined as she started drawing excitedly on Sakura's arm.

"Yes. Now get to it. You've got four hours."

And he was gone.

"Fucking A, you got screwed," Kaoru muttered as she got to work.

"You're telling me. Have you seen this? It attaches to a chain in his bedroom. Where am I supposed to sleep? In the same bed as him? How about no, that is not happening. Ow! Is this supposed to hurt?" Sakura raged.

"Just a bit in the beginning. My ink has been mixed with Sasuke's own blood in order to create a bond between the two of you that can be felt when he activates a particular jutsu in his arsenal. When activated, he will be able to feel what you feel, know what you know, and he can even impose his own thoughts and emotions on you. It has a limit, he can not force you to do anything sexually unless there is some part of you, no matter how small, that wants it to. He also can't take over your mind. But most of everything else this will give him free reign.

His blood is what is making it sting. His blood has a higher acidity than most do because of his bloodline. Your own bloodline is not as strong, so it is basically being overridden and metabolized and changed in that area. Does all that make sense? I know you're one hell of a medic, so it must on some level." Kaoru explained as she continued on with her work.

"Ah. It's brilliant actually. Who came up with it? There is no way it was him."

"It was a collaboration of Kabuto and myself. Orochimaru uses a version of it within the curse marks he gives. We worked on it for many years to perfect." Kaoru said proudly.

"Ah. Ow. I guess that makes sense. Well done. While it angers the piss out of me, you aren't the person I'm angry at. That title goes to captain asshat. I can't believe that he feels that he needs to control me down to the very core. This… this thing that he's doing. I don't know what he wants. Ow! God that hurts." Sakura screeched and hit the wall with her fist.

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"The worst is almost over. I'm like 2/3rds the way done now." Kaoru coached a Sakura who was almost in tears from the burning sensation that occurred from her new tattoo.

"Just finish the damn thing. He will be back any minute now and I don't want you to get in trouble with him. Plus, you deserve the sweets promised to you. This has to have been hell on you as well as me."

"Aaaaaaaannnnnnndddddd, done! Your all finished. Do you want to see it?"

"Sure. Why not? The thing has put me in pain for the last 3 and a half hours of my life so far and I am sure it will do more harm later too. May as well know what it looks like." Sakura sighed and got up.

It was the Uchiha fan with pale coloring and Sasuke's name intricately laid over the top in silver that faded at the edges of the letters and what looked like his own Sharingan inlaid behind his name but in front of the fan in a shocking blood red color. To say the least, it was stunning. It took Sakura's own breath away.

"IT beautiful. Who knew such a beautiful thing could wield such unlawful power over my own will. You made it beautiful. Thank you." Sakura whispered as she hugged the younger girl.

"Your welcome. I know you're not here by choice, nor would you ever have this done by choice either, so I wanted to be something pretty. I improved on his design for you. I'm glad you like it."

"Looks like you two have bonded. Let me have a look. Sakura, come here." Sasuke's voice cut through the silence with a commanding boom.

Both girls jumped and Sakura sputtered a little but did as told. Putting her arm out into Sasuke's grasp he pulled it so he could get a better look.

"Looks even better than imagined. In addition to candy, I think I might take you to suna to get the paints that I know you like. Well done. Sakura lets go."

"Sasuke where are we going now? You've dragged me to hell and back. I'm tired and I would really like to go to bed."

"Where do you think we are going?"


	6. The Meeting

Alright, guys. I know I've been gone a while. Sorry about that. Family matters had to take precedence and when I left to go home I left my laptop at my house. So….. I didn't have it. As always I don't own Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura. Or anyone from Naruto. That is all Masashi Kishimoto who brought them to life and I wouldn't have it any other way. On to the plot.

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Sasuke threw Sakura on the bed and tossed some cloth toward her. He skills having her catch it mid-air. It was a shirt and nothing more, although it was a big shirt so it would cover her to her mid thighs.

"You forgot pants."

"No, I didn't. I gave you what you'll wear while you sleep. Get dressed. I'm tired from training and want to go to sleep." Sasuke sighed as he began undressing.

" There is no way in hell that I am wearing this. I request pants. I will have…"

"Sakura" he interrupted. "Get dressed in what I gave you. Now. Don't make me use it."

Sakura's face drained of all color as she nodded. "Can I at least get dressed in the bathroom? I have something I need to do."

"That's fine. I never said you had to get dressed in here. Get dressed in the closet for all I care. Just hurry up." Sasuke smirked.

Sakura ran off into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

"Stupid Uchiha. Ruining everything. Look at this. I'm chained like a dog, marked like I'm some piece of property and now I'm basically being told that everything I've worked so hard for was worth nothing. This fucking blows. Where's the razor… I haven't shaved my legs in a while….. I don't want to hear him complaining." She said as she searched the small bathroom she and Sasuke now shared. "Ah! Here the little devil is."

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"Sasuke? Are you awake?" Sakura whispered as she left the bathroom and put her clothes on a nearby chair.

The room was dark, and Sakura could barely see her hand in front of her face, much less see around the room. There were no windows in the room, likely so she couldn't try to leave in the middle of the night.

"I'm here. Didn't think that I would leave you alone after I invested so much time into getting you here, now did you?" Sasuke's voice reached from behind her back. His hands followed with his voice and pulled Sakura back against his chest. To feel his breath on her neck as he held her. "Now off to bed with us. You have had a very long day. Tomorrow's won't be any easier on you either."

"Why is that? What's on the plate for tomorrow?"

"I get to introduce you to everyone else. Now. Move forward 7 steps and you'll be at the bed." Sasuke ordered as he pushed forward a bit.

"I get it. The Uchiha is up past his bedtime." Sakura poked fun at the man that held her life in his hands and headed the way he motioned. "Do you want the left or right side?" A few steps later, she reached the bed.

"Doesn't matter. You pick your side first."

With that, the two crawled into bed and as soon as Sakura's head hit the pillow she was out. Sasuke took a few seconds to admire her and to attach the chain to her cuff and then he himself also layed down and went to sleep.

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As morning came the two sired as their natural ninja instincts alerted them to another in the room.

"Kabuto. What do you want? It's still early." Sasuke groaned as he sat up.

"Orochimaru wants to see your new toy. Bring her to his chambers as soon as you are ready. You know he has yet to approve of her being here, yet I hear that you've already taken her to see Kaoru. He is not too pleased." Kabuto snarked as the sleeping kunoichi.

"Fine. Message delivered. Now leave. Well, be there in a half hour make sure he's dressed this time." Sasuke ordered and then began to shake sakura.

"What is it? What's going on Sasuke?"

"Come. Go get dressed. Were meeting Orochimaru shortly and we need him to like you. I have clothes placed on the right side of the wardrobe for you. Go find something and make yourself presentable." Explained Sasuke to a very sleepy Sakura.

"Okay. Okay. Wait, why does he need to like me? Why do I want him to like me?" Sakura asked confused and a little pissed off.

"Because if he doesn't like you, he could decide to simply kill you. I really don't want him trying to take you out. I don't want to have to protect you again. Now go get ready. We really can't afford to be late." Sasuke pushed her towards the clothes he had provided.

"Where are my clothes. The ones that I came here in. Where are those?"

"In the trash. Where they will stay. Put on the ones I have given you. They are clean and not ripped." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"If you want him to like me, give me my old clothes back. They will show far more character than new ones that are pristine. They show who I am. How I almost won." Sakura promoted.

"Fine. Here. God, you're troublesome. Beginning to wonder why I decided to even come and get you in the first place. They are over there."

"Thank you. I'll see you in a few minutes. Better get dressed. Wouldn't want the great Uchiha to look like he actually had a hard time getting his new toy here now would we." She taunted as she slunk into the bathroom to get ready.

A few minutes later, both were dressed and on their way to the one man that controlled everything in the sound. Knocked on the door and were escorted in.

"Let me see your new toy Sasuke-Kun. Bring her here where I can get a good look at her." Orochimaru ordered from his chair.

Kabuto stood next to him in a room that was cold, dull and full of stone. Sasuke grabbed Sakura's arm in a harsh grip and drags her with him. Closer to Orochimaru and tosses her to the ground on her knees.

"Take a look all you want. Just don't touch her. She's mine." Sasuke muttered.

Orochimaru stood up and got on his own knee's in front of Sakura and grabbed her face. Turning it this way and that to get a good look.

"Hey. I said not to Touch." Sasuke reacted.

"I'll do what I please. She's on my property without my permission. Until I have decided what to do with her, you will deal. She's quite beat up. Did you really have to go so hard on her? She couldn't have put up that much of a fuss. Her eyes though, so very expressive. I can see why you would want her. For now, I want her to stay. She can remain with you. She'll work with Kabuto to heal the wounded and she will train with me to become better than she is now. The two of you will train together. Understood?"

"Fine. Agreed. Can we go now? I want her fitted for a few things before tonight's events."

"Fine, but one more amendment Sasuke-Kun." Orochimaru huffed as he sat down.

"What. What do you want now?"

"I want her marked. So that while you can control her, so can I with an overriding command. It doesn't have to be big or even where anyone can see it. But I want it done tonight, at the event. I want everyone there to see it."

"No. This I won't let happen. I'll let her get marked. But my commands override yours. Deal?" Sasuke remarked.

"You drive a hard bargain. I get to choose where it goes on her then. Deal?" Orochimaru smiled.

"Deal. Sakura come. Were leaving." Sasuke ordered and watched as the pink got up and followed him out the door.

"I like her. Can't wait to see how things go from here on out. Kabuto lets go. We have plans to draw up."

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"Sasuke! What the hell! I am not some piece of property to marked up until your happy with it! What's going on tonight?!" Sakura screamed at him as soon as they were far enough away from Orochimaru that no one would hear her screaming at the Uchiha.

"I made a deal and you're going to deal with it. Let's go. I need you properly fitted for some armor and a few other things. Tonight Orochimaru is throwing a feast of sorts. Wants to celebrate his new body that he just gained. You will be there with me by his side. I need you to behave. Do you understand?" Sasuke muttered.

"My dear god. That absolutely the most you have ever said to me. Fine. I'll obey this one time. Where are we?" Sakura asked.

"To get you fitted for a dress. I'm actually not allowed in here. It's the place in here that's females only. Orochimaru's order. Go in with these papers. Give them to the front desk clerk and she will help you with everything you need. I'll wait here. Go." Sasuke said as he handed her the papers that he held.

Sakura nodded, took the papers and went in.

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About an hour later, Sakura emerged with a few bags and handed Sasuke the leftover money from the purchase's that had been made.

"Everything goes alright?" Sasuke asked as he put the change away and lead her back to their rooms, only to find that the rooms they had been living in were empty.

A not on the door said the Orochimaru had ordered that he and Sakura be moved to a new, larger room that could better accommodate the couple. When they reached their new room, Sakura began checking things out. They had a bigger bathroom that even had a king size mattress now. There was also a large window in the bedroom that Sakura could look out of.

"Look! I can see outside! It is so pretty!" Sakura exclaimed as she opened the window.

"Sakura," Sasuke said with the most commanding tone that Sakura had ever heard. It sent tingles through her whole body starting from her arm. "You are never to leave this room through that window. Do you understand."

"Yes, Sasuke. You didn't need to use the mark. We made a deal. I will remain here with you as per our contract. Now, how long do I have to get ready for this feast?" Sakura murmured to him.

"A few hours. You should probably start getting ready. I'll be back in a bit. I need to get a few things from Orochimaru. I'll be back to pick you up before its time. Got it?" Sasuke settled.

"Alright. Get going. I'll be ready by the time you get back."

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A few hours later, Sasuke arrived back at the door to his bedroom and walked in. Sakura was enjoying the last rays of the sun. She had on a floor length dress that was made of a silky red fabric that had a slit up the left side that went almost to her hip. For her shoes, she wore gladiator laced gold shoes that had a high heel for her. As she stood up to look at Sasuke, it could be seen that the front of the dress was very modest. She had a single sleeve that was very large at the bottom and it had an extra bit of fabric that trailed down almost to the floor. She had armored gauntlets on her hands similar to her normal gloves but these went up a few inches on her arms.

"Sasuke? Are you okay? You look shocked?" Sakura worried and placed her hand on his forehead.

"Sakura. You look….."Was all Sasuke said before he pushed her into the nearest wall and pinned her down with his body.

"Sasuke…. What…" Sakura began until a hand over her mouth made her stop.

"Shut up." Was the last thing she heard before he crashed his lips into hers.

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"Your late Sasuke-Kun. Where is the girl? Kaoru is ready to mark her up then we can commence with the feast." Orochimaru smirked.

"I felt she deserved her own entrance. Not trailing behind me or you like a dog. She's a hell of a kunoichi and a sanin apprentice in her own right." Sasuke said as he settled down next to his teacher. "Sakura. Come in."

In walked Sakura. The whole hall went silent as she stepped towards Kaoru and her table. Her dress flowed out behind her as she walked. Cat calls followed her as she sat on the bench provided and looked at Sasuke.

"We welcome Sakura Haruno into the sound as one of our own. Sasuke Uchiha has claimed her as his own and will be treated with the utmost respect. Am I understood?" Orochimaru announced to the meeting to which there was a riot of yes from his men. "Kaoru. You may begin."

Kaoru had Sakura lay down on the bed and flipped her dress skirt up a bit so that she could reach Sakura's calve and began her work. Sakura kept silent this time. Her face stoic and just watched the work. After half an hour it was done. Orochimaru and Sasuke sauntered down and looked at it. It was a small and simple snake.

"Now Sakura. Kneel and swear your loyalty to the sound. Once you've done that, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the rest of your time here." Orochimaru ordered her.

"I can't. It's not…." Sakura began then the tingling started again.

Next thing she knew everyone was clapping and she was kneeling in front of Orochimaru.

"Good. It works. Now, Enjoy the food and drink. Training begins at 7 sharp. Don't be late."


	7. Training

**Hi guys. Sorry, it's been so long. I have had so much going on. But I managed to finish all my schoolwork early and had inspiration for the chapter. Hope yall like it! As always I don't own Naruto. Don't forget to rate and review! I love to hear what you guys think.**

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 **What the hell just happened? Why can't I remember anything? Did I just swear allegiance to the sound? To...to him? I was okay with Sasuke because at least with him I knew I could trust him. Somewhat. Orochimaru is a whole different story… I can't deal with him…. I can't-**

"Sakura. Sit up and pay attention. This isn't a place for you to zone out." Sasuke cut his voice through her thoughts as his hand slid down her back and stopped just above her mid-back.

"What the hell is wrong with you Sasuke? Your acting very weird. It's almost as though you- "

"Shut up. Now. Eat your food and finish the drink as much as you like. We are leaving in a little bit. I still have things that I need to get done tonight." Sasuke ordered Sakura, though not using his mark to make her obey.

"Fine. But I want to talk later. Got it?"

"Fine. Eat."

"We need to go Orochimaru," Sasuke muttered to the man sitting next to him an hour later.

"Fine. Go. Remember 7 sharp and she comes with you. You caught yourself quite a girl. Let's see where we can take her." He replied and continued his feast.

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"What did I do. I need to know Sasuke. I can't remember what happened when he asked me to swear fealty. Why?" Sakura asked him when they arrived back at the room.

"I made it so that you wouldn't remember anything when he used his power. I didn't want you to be able to remember anything if he ordered you to do anything truly terrible. It was to protect you. It's why I was a little late getting you for the event." Sasuke said as he closed the distance between them.

"Why? It's not like I have any choice in anything anymore anyway. Why make it even remotely more comfortable for me? I am to be stuck here doing god knows what with god knows who. Why would you make it easy for me?" Sakura shouted at him as she threw a fist that connected squarely with his jaw sending him flying.

Sasuke caught himself on the wall and lunched at Sakura. He grabbed her and pushed her into the wall, sharingan ablaze.

"What the hell do you think you are trying to do Sakura? You know already that you can not win against me. Why must you continue trying to overpower me? You will never win." Sasuke breathed as he held her harder to the wall.

"I am not trying to win. Hitting you just makes me feel better. Sasuke I have no control over my own life anymore. You and he hold it all in the palm of your hand. I follow any command given because I have no choice. These marks make it so. Whatever you want me to do, I have to do it. I just want one thing in life that I can control. Is that so much to ask? Huh, asshole is it?" Sakura raved as she pushed him off.

"That is unfortunately not going to happen. Get ready for bed and do whatever it is that you need to do to become less angry. We have training in the morning and I really need you well rested for that. He a trainer who puts you through hell. I am going to take a shower then I will join you." Sasuke concluded as he reattached the chain to Sakura's ankle.

"What if I wanted to shower? Huh? Did you think of that?" Sakura huffed as she watched Sasuke begin to remove his shirt.

"You are welcome to join me. I never said you couldn't. There is also a tub if you would prefer." He smirked as he walked into the bathroom. "I know you know the chain reaches so I don't need to unhook you."

"Not. A. Chance. Uchiha. I'll shower after you." Sakura spat as she sat on the bed.

"Alright. Just do me a favor and relax a bit while you wait. You're too damn tense."

"No promises. Go. I already feel nasty and don't want to feel that way for long." Sakura compromised.

"Ordering me around is going to get you in trouble. Every time you order me around it'll earn you a harsher beating during training and I will make your life harder. Understand toy?" Sasuke said over his shoulder as he left.

"Go to hell!" Sakura cried out and threw a shoe at his backside.

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Half an hour later Sasuke came out of the bathroom to find a certain pinkette fast asleep on the chair beside his desk with a medical text that he had picked up for Kabuto in the cloud village in her lap. Still in her dress from the night's activities with her knees up and tucked just underneath her so that she looked relaxed. The moonlight from their new window shining across her face as she slept quietly.

Sasuke quietly got her undress and put her into the shirt he had picked out for himself and laid her down on the bed after pulling her hair down carefully. "Good lord. What will I do with her? Falling asleep like this is so dangerous." Sasuke whispered as he grabbed a new shirt for himself and then settled in for the night and was soon asleep.

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Morning comes to fast for the sleeping couple who are both soon awake and getting ready for the day ahead.

"Sakura. We are running late. Hurry up with your hair." Sasuke scoffed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just getting ready for training I did not sign on for of my own free will. I will do my hair how I like, and you will just have to deal." Sakura said as she began twisting her hair this way and that. "You also did not give me time to pack so you would not have known that I needed things to actually put this hair up with. Luckily, I use a hair tie for training and had one in my pocket. I will need more."

"After training, I am headed out to the rain village. Ill have an hour or two before I leave. If you write me a list of the things you need that I missed I will try to get them for you on my trip. Do the list in order of importance please, as I won't have too much extra time on my hands. Anything you can grab from Kaoru get from her." Sasuke concluded as he placed gauntlets on his arms.

"Done. Let's go and get our butts handed to us." Sakura giggled and waited for Sasuke to detach the chain.

"Yes, let's get going." He said as he removed the chain and led Sakura to the training grounds.

"Holy crap! This place is huge! At least four times the size of the one I had back home." Sakura yelled as they reached the middle.

"Yes, yes all good and well. I'm glad to see you so alert in the morning Sakura." Orochimaru snarked as he came out from the shadows just behind Sakura.

"Jeeze. Do you ever stop being creepy?" Sakura said as she jumped back and landed against a tree. "Ugh. Stupid tree."

"Refer to me like that again little girl and you may not survive it. Sasuke. When we are done teach her some manners. That's an order. I'll give you an extra few hours before you must leave for rain. For now, we get started." Orochimaru hissed.

"Hnn," Sasuke replied.

"Don't 'hnn' me boy. Now start sparing. We have a long way to go." Orochimaru said.

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"Everything hurts! Why does everything hurt? And how are you not in pain!?" Sakura exclaimed as she fell bloody and dirty on the bed.

"I must be used to it by now. I remember the first time I trained with him. Couldn't move for a week." Sasuke chuckled as he went into the bathroom.

The sound of water could be heard hitting the side of the tub. He soon walked out and grabbed hold of Sakura and began to gingerly peel off her clothes and then dumped her into the tub.

"Soak up. You will need to relax your muscles while I get everything ready for my departure. I'll come to get you in a little bit." Sasuke said to a Sakura who was already relaxing in the huge tub.

A half hour later he came back for her. She was on the edge of the tub and was dosing in and out of consciousness. He picked her up and wrapped her in a fluffy black towel and got her dressed back up.

"Sakura. Wake up. I need your list. I'm leaving in an hour." Sasuke said as he shook her.

"I'm up. Here, I only need a few things. Did you shorten the chain?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, I did. As punishment for both how you have been ordering me around as well as Orochimaru. I will be gone for a week and for that time you will remain confined to this room. You will take all your meals here as well as remain in this room unless you are taken for training or work with Kabuto. In which case they are both able to get the chain off you. Do you understand." Sasuke demanded.

"Seriously?! This is not okay. I am not okay with this. You can't do this to me. There is nothing here for me to do while you're gone for a week." Sakura complained.

"I will have them take you to the library to get some books to read. I do have a stack of medical texts for you in the corner though. I know you like to read them in your spare time. I'll be gone for a week and in that time please fix your manners. I'm not saying you must be perfect but hold your tongue a bit better. I went through quite a lot of trouble to get you and I don't want to kill Orochimaru just yet. "Sasuke said as he grabbed his bag.

And with that said, he was gone. Leaving Sakura to see to things on her own for a week.


	8. Leaving

A week passed by very slowly for Sakura, with nothing to do but train and work in the grossly overcrowded medical hall with Kabuto which wasn't very often because half of the time she didn't even want to move. Orochimaru's training had taken a very large toll on her physical strength and her ability to walk. He had been working on her speed while Sasuke was going to be gone and for some reason, he thought the best way to teach her was to throw poisonous darts at her feet. Getting hit by one of those put her out for hours while her body broke down the darts poison, on the bright side, it was 8 hours less than she spent alone. It was the alone part that hurt the most. Sakura was a very social person and not having anyone to talk to was hurting her mentally.

She couldn't tell the passing of time as she laid in the bed, surrounded by medical texts that Sasuke had left her flipped open to different pages. It was taking everything in her to not just scream and threw a fit. She was bored.

"Sakura. Let's go. Sasuke asked me to take you to the library to grab some books to keep you busy. I don't want to be there all day so please do me a favor and be quick about it." Kabuto said as he walked in and took her chain.

"Fine. I will do my best okay? Just get me the hell out of this room." Sakura said as she rose from the bed and followed him out and down the winding halls.

"I'm giving you 20 minutes to find everything you want and then we have to come back here. Sasuke is going to return soon and he left specific instructions to be given to you so that you are ready for him when he gets back tomorrow. We are here so, go find whatever you're wanting for." Kabuto smirked as he watched the young kunoichi scurry off cussing and swearing up a storm.

Sasuke was in for a very long ride if he thought she would just roll over and play house. Sakura was a firecracker that would not be easily put out or put down and Kabuto could not wait until Sasuke figured this fact out. Sasuke was very used to being top dog, everyone bowing to his will and him getting his way. With Sakura, he was just not going to get that.

Twenty minutes later Sakura walked up with an armload of books and another person behind her with more. Kabuto balked at the sheer number of books between the two of them.

"Surely there is no way you need that many books. Take half of it, there is no room in the room you share with Sasuke for all of those books." Kabuto reasoned with her.

"There is plenty of space and these are all vital books. I am attempting to make light of my situation and a least I have a very large library to chose from. Let me have one thing. I am stuck here listing to orders I don't believe in and I must follow them. I help you out in that disgusting and filthy basement lab you call a hospital. Give me this." Sakura exasperated.

"Fine. When he gets home, he can manage you. We need to be getting back to the room. I have a list of stuff I still need to complete today so that Orochimaru can be ready for training Sasuke tomorrow. Move along."

When they got back to the room, Kabuto threw a bag at her that he had set inside the room when he had come to get her. With orders to look inside and do whatever the letter told her so he left her to her own devices. After chaining her back up of course. Inside the duffle were cloths, her normal work clothes. The not said that she should be ready as they would soon be leaving and that she should pack anything that she wanted to take with her by the time he got back. Sakura organized her books and grabbed a few things from the closet that Sasuke had picked out for her, namely the shirts that he placed in there, she liked how they fit. After grabbing a few more items from the bathroom and tossing them in there she was done. All that was left to do was wait for Sasuke to get back and tell her what the hell was going on.

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Two days later, Sasuke arrived late in the night to the room he and Sakura shared. He was greeted by a vision of Sakura sleeping in their bed, her long pink hair splayed along both his and her pillows. Sheets nearly falling off the bed from her restless tossing and turning as she dreamed. He sat on the bed next to her sleeping self and just watched her for a few minutes, drinking in her image before he stepped out to take care of business. Placing down a stack of cloths, he soon left to manage his life and knew that he would soon be back.

Four hours later he returned, this time Sakura was in the shower, having woken and noticed that Sasuke had returned sometime in the night. He sat down and dropped his bloody shirt on the ground by his feet and landed on the bed. He closed his eyes and replayed a summary of the last few days. He had left on a mission for Kabuto to locate some rare herbs that only grew by the line between the land of fire and the land of water. It was grown by a remote village out in hick town nowhere and the owners were none too pleased to part with it. Upon his return, Orochimaru had plans to finally take over his body and Sasuke was having none of that. So he sped up his original plan and killed the fool and for good measure took Kabuto out too. He wasn't going to miss either of them and this way there would be no way for either to interfere in his plans ever again.

"Sasuke? Is that you?" Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Hn. What is it?"

"I packed you a bag as well, but I need a little help… my zipper is stuck on the shirt you gave me to wear today, could you maybe help me fix it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get over here and I'll help. How did you get it stuck anyway?" Sasuke said as he sat up and looked at Sakura walking over. "Your hair is caught in it. This might hurt a little."

"It's fine. When my hair is wet it can do that. Just zip it down and I'll move the hair. It should be unstuck and able to go back up. When do we leave anyway?" She said as she moved her hair over and Sasuke zipped the back of her shirt up.

"As soon as I get done showering. I am covered in blood and I don't feel like traveling covered in it. Finish up drying your hair, its cold outside and I can't have you getting sick. Also, here," he said as he handed her a scroll "seal up any medical texts you need in here. I am giving you free rein on most of your chakra to do this task. Head to the library and grab and texts you need there as well. Take care to grab any on the Sharingan and the Uchiha as well. Go. Return once you've finished that task." He said as he took off both the chain and the cuff.

"Sure, though I'm not sure that there is any hot water left, be my guest. I'll be back in about a half hour. Thankfully the library is well organized. One good thing about this place." Sakura said as she left through the door and Sasuke was left to his own devices. A shower and clean clothes later greeted him to Sakura finishing up the seal and placing the scroll in her bag.

"Sakura. Come here." Sasuke commanded to her.

"What do you want now." She huffed as she walked over.

"Sit. I want to check something." He said as he pointed at his lap.

Sakura sat down next to him on the bed, but he was not having the defiance. He grabbed her wrist harshly and dragged her over his lap so that she was laying on her belly on his legs. Grabbing her leg and began to inspect her calve. The one that had been previously marked by Kaoru with the snake's mark. Noticing it was gone he smiled. All remnants of the snakes claim that had been etched into her was gone. Whereas Sasuke's marks stood out proudly against her skin, both the "S" he had carved into her during their battle and the that he'd had Kaoru mark into her. Throughout his inspection, Sakura began to struggle.

"Lay still. I'm not going to hurt you I just need to check a few things before we leave. Don't make me do it. I don't like forcing you to do things and remember, I will punish you if I feel like you are not following my orders." Sasuke said as he continued his inspection of her, finally satisfied with the fact that she was in good shape he stood up, dropping her in the progress. "Grab your bang, let's go. We need to make it quite a distance between us and this base before they figure out that Orochimaru is dead. One more thing. Stand here. I need to unseal your chakra."

With a few hand signs, Sakura felt her chakra return to her, not just the small amount that she had been allowed to have, but everything flooding back to her.

"You are not to even attempt to try and get away from me. You must remain in my eyesight at all times unless I say otherwise and if I do, you must stay within 40 feet of me at that point. No trying to harm me or any new people we pick up along the way. Do I make myself clear?" He said as he grabbed his bag and shouldered it.

Feeling the burn from her arm she knew that she would have to obey but she gave a verbal response to his statement. Grabbing her bag they headed out from the base into the woods where Sakura had her first breath of fresh air that she had in weeks.

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Hours later, Sasuke stopped on a tree branch and threw his arm up stopping Sakura in her tracks behind him.

"We make camp here for the night. I'll set up the tent, go get us some water from the nearby stream and see if you can find anything to eat. Should be some fish in the same stream." Sasuke said as he jumped down and began to unpack.

Sakura dropped her bag on the ground and grabbed both canteens and walked off into the forest to the nearby stream that had plenty of fish as well as was a cool temperature. She walked into it and grabbed some fish after filling the canteens. As she headed back she watched Sasuke start the fire so they could cook dinner and handed him the fish.

"Nice job. It's gonna be a while before the food is done if you want you can take a bath in the stream." Sasuke said as he gutted the fish she had brought.

"Okay. Call me when the food is done. I think it's going to be a long one. I'll see you later." She said as she grabbed clean clothes and headed off.

Half an hour later Sakura felt a pull on her entire being. Knowing it was Sasuke calling she got out of the river, dried off and got dressed. She could smell the food before she could see the campsite.

"Smells good." She said as she sat down across from him and took a fish.

"Hn. Eat. We need to get to sleep. We have an early day tomorrow."

"Sasuke, can I ask something?" Sakura said between bites of her fish.

"Fine. What?" He said as he looked at her.

"You promised me we would talk. Why did you kiss me before the banquet? You have never shown anything more for me other than annoyance." Sakura asked as she finished off her fish.

"Because, you followed my orders. As you know, I will punish you for not following them, but it also goes the other way. If you behave, I will reward you. Since you got ready and were ready on time might I add, I thought you deserved a treat. Was I wrong?" Sasuke explained also finishing up.

"Are you freaking kidding me? That's why you kissed me? You can go to hell for that one. I am no dog that you can expect to have at your beck and call. God you make me so angry I ca-" Sakura began but Sasuke interrupted her. "Sakura, cut it out. Now"

"No, I will not cut it out. I am a person Sasuke. A real person. I have rights. I will not be silent-" she began again only to be thrown into the nearest tree.

"I said cut it out. Are you going to obey me now?"

"No. Sasuke you can't treat people like this. It's inhumane!" She shouted at him.

All of the sudden, he was there in front of her. His arm grabbed hold of her neck and threw her against the tree, creating an even larger dent in the trunk than there had already been from the original time she had been kicked into it. Holding her up with one hand Sasuke grabbed his katana and rammed it into her leg all the way through to the tree and well into the wood. The scream that emanated from her rang through the silence of the forest as he grabbed her arms with his other hand. Grabbing a smaller hidden blade that he kept in his belt he ramed that through her hands as well. Again her scream minutes through the forest.

"Now that I have your full attention. I want you to shut up and calm down. Don't make me punish you here. I will cut your chakra so you cant heal yourself and I will make you travel with your wounds, which I might add are very extensive now." Sasuke breathed toward her as he looked at his handiwork.

With her being pinned to the tree the way she was and could not harm him due to the previous orders Sakura stayed still. Defiance still running rampant in her eyes. She could feel a burning that was almost blinding emanating from her arm. Indicating how angry Sasuke really was, she had been told the burn would relate to his feelings and right now it felt like she had been set on fire.

"I am going to leave you there while I get the days grime off of me. Hope that you learn your lesson this time. Think about how this sort of situation can be best avoided next time you feel like talking back to me." Sasuke said as he walked off and left her alone and bleeding.

About an hour later he returned. Sakura was passed out still pinned against the tree. He had made sure to miss the vital points so that while he was gone she wouldn't bleed to death but he needed to learn her place. He ripped the knife and the katana from her body and laid her down on the ground.

"Sakura. Wake up." He ordered and watched her eyes flutter open. " Go bandage yourself up. I'm taking your chakra for now so you will heal naturally. You need to learn that I own you now. What I say goes. I decide what value you hold. "Sasuke said as he made a few signs and Sakura felt her chakra leave her.

"Fine. I might need some help though. I need to wash these wounds first." She whined.

"Fine. I'll help you get done what needs to be done. Then I need you to sleep. Now that you're injured we need to adjust our travel plans." He said as he helped her off the ground.

She washed off her hands, careful of the giant holes that were now etched into them and did the same with her leg. After returning to camp she sterilized the wounds and wrapped them up so that they wouldn't get dirty or bleed out anywhere. After giving Sasuke a dirty look filled with contempt, she crawled into the tent and was quickly asleep. Not long after Sasuke followed suit. Wrapping her up in a blanket that he had brought after pulling some hair out from covering her face. Laying down on his back he enjoyed the silence of her soft snoring that lulled him to a light sleep.


	9. traveling

Morning came in harsher than Sasuke had seen in years. The sun was completely blacked out by the storm clouds that had pooled across the sky as they had slept. Rain looking to dump at any minute and while the tent would keep them from getting wet, it also meant that they would need to find more prevalent shelter in a cave so that they could start a fire to be warm. He shook Sakura who was still sleeping soundly to wake her.

"Sakura. Get up and let's go. It's going to rain soon and I want to be much further away before it dumps." Sasuke said as he got up himself and started to pack away things.

Sakura got up and helped him pack, albeit a much slower pace than him as she was still injured and could not keep up at her normal pace. Soon after they were off and jumping through the trees at a breakneck pace. One that Sakura in no way was able to keep up with. Every time he got ahead of her more than 40 paces she felt like she was on fire and would speed up as best she could. After several hours of this, the rain began pouring so hard it was almost impossible to see more than just her hand in front of her face. Several hours later, Sakura's legs give out and she falls the next 40 feet to the ground. Upon hitting the ground, a resounding snap is heard as her leg breaks in half and her scream resonates through the forest. Causing Sasuke to turn back and notice she was gone.

"Sakura? Where the hell are you?" Sasuke said as he dropped down branch by branch. "What the hell have you done now? "

"I fell and broke my leg. I can't travel anymore in this condition." Sakura holds her voice down to prevent pissing the Uchiha off.

"Let me see it." He says as he kneels down and begins to check on her wounds. Grabbing hold of her leg he checks it over and it is indeed broken. "Heal yourself up now."

"Chakra? Still, don't have any right now." Sakura sassed him as she felt her chakra begin to flood her veins and heal her injuries on its own, then all too soon, it was gone. "Thanks. Shall we continue?"

"No, I see a cave over there that we can take over for the night until the rain stops. Let's just hope we can get a fire started with the wood I sealed away last night." He said as he helped her up and walked with her to the cave.

"Fine. We need to get warm and dry anyways otherwise we are going to get hypothermia. Start with your clothes." Sakura said as she went into medic mode, forgetting that she was ordering Sasuke to do something.

"Excuse me?" He said darkly.

"I said that we should get out of the wet clothes. What's so difficult to under…. Oh god. I'm sorry. I just went into medic mode and forgot that I was giving an order." She stammered out as she watched him step towards her in the dark of the cave. " It won't happen again. Honest."

"Should I take you at your word, or should I teach you a lesson in who runs this relationship?" Sasuke mocked her.

"Whichever you decide on… I have no real choice in the matter." She said as she backed into the wall and felt her clothes plastered to her backside.

"For today I will let it slide. Do not do it again. Understand?" He said as he turned away from her and began to undress and lay his clothes out next to the fire they had made.

Hearing her breath of relief and a zipper, he decides to begin making dinner while watching her undress. Her clothes are plastered to her body from the might of the rain and he can see every curve she has, every muscle that has been built while he was away, everything that has changed about her. Stopping he watches as she removes everything but her chest bindings and a black lacy undergarment that he had picked out on a whim one day while planning all of this.

"Sakura. Come here."

She looks over her shoulder and pads over to him. Placing her clothes nearby his and close to the fire she looks into his eyes. He's still sitting on the ground, having finished prepping the food, it was now cooking. Sitting in his signature pose with one leg up and the other down he looks at her. Fire playing off his eyes as he stares into her very soul.

"Sit. Here." He orders as he points at his lap.

"No." was her simple response.

Before the word was even finished forming from her mouth the burning began in her arm. So intense that it was all she could do was not fall in the fire. Falling to her knees in front of him she began to crawl in order to comply with his orders. Reaching the relative safety of his lap, it stopped.

"I told you, you should not defy my orders. It'll hurt worse with each infraction. Please stop making this so damn difficult on me. If you would just listen to me, everything would go so much easier for you, and you might even start to enjoy it. We need to share body heat until the cave heats up. I've placed a barrier to prevent the heat from escaping from it for now. Only one blanket made it unscathed from the rain. We'll have to share." Sasuke said as he wrapped it around them both and they settled in for the night. Eating the chicken cooked by him and then going to sleep. The storm raging outside paid them no mind as it tried to single handily take on the world.

The next day greeted them with a very sunny morning that shone through the cave and onto the couple, waking them as it shone on them. The fire had long gone out and the cave had grown cold overnight as the heat stopped being produced.

"Sakura. Let's go. I want to get moving. Pack everything up and see if the clothes are dry." Sasuke grumbled as he rolled over away from her.

"Lazy asshole. I'll wake you when I'm done." She snipped as she got up, instantly missing the little warmth his body provided her under the blanket.

Packing up everything took very little time, problematic was the fact that her clothes were not yet fully dry and with the temperature it was outside, having even slightly damp clothes would create a problem. Unable though to not follow his orders she got dressed because while her clothes were not yet dry fully, his were. After finishing that task she went about brushing her hair, which had not been done in several days due to their travel, and her own laziness. IT took several minutes to get all of the twigs and leaves out from her scalp and to braid her hair so that she could better travel with it. It was getting just a little long for her taste. She usually kept it right above the small of her back and it was for some reason already in just a few short weeks hanging down to just atop her butt. So braiding it made it much easier to deal with.

"Sasuke. Everything is packed up. Your clothes are dry as well so we can leave as soon as you are dressed." She said as she shook him awake and he stood up and threw the blanket at her with a smirk.

"Well done. Nothing seems even remotely out of place. I want to reward you. What do you want?" Sasuke said as he surveyed the cave.

"A hot shower would be nice. Think that would be manageable?" Sakura squeaked out as his gaze fell on her.

"Yeah. Sounds good to me too. However, not right now. I have a place in mind but it will take us two days to reach it. I'm sure you can wait that long, yes?" Sasuke appeased.

"Yeah. It's fine with me. Ready to go?" She asked as she turned around so he could finish dressing.

"Yeah. Let's go. Oh and take this." He said as he handed her a pill.

"What is this?" She asked as she took it from him, it was unidentifiable to her.

"It makes your hair grow longer. I like your hair and wanted it longer." He simply said as he set off and she followed after taking the pill.

"So that's why my hair has grown at an exponential rate. You've been giving me pills. Prolly crushed it up in my food."

"Bingo. Let's get moving." Sasuke smirked as she looked at him flabbergasted.

The day's journey was uneventful for the most part, aside from Sakura getting colder and colder as they traveled. Her wet clothes not helping keep her warm at such high speeds. She could feel the hypothermia setting in as they finally jumped down from the trees and walked into a small cottage. It had the most basic amenities, there was nothing fancy about it and it was covered in dust from years of disuse.

"Wow. It's really dusty. Where are we?" Sakura asked.

"When I first came to Orochimaru he gave me this cottage as a present so that if I needed a break I could take one in peace. I know it isn't much but there is a bed and it's sheltered. Help me clean up and light a fire. We will be staying here for the night. In the morning we leave to head to your warm shower." Sasuke said as he began to rummage through bottles.

After several hours of cleaning and a fire had been going, the cottage was clean and warm. Sakura, however, was now dirty and still was cold. The room began to spin, colors and shapes blending together as she fell from where she stood. A loud think was the reply as she hit the ground and passed out.

"Sakura? Everything okay?" Sasuke shouted from the bedroom.

When no reply was heard he walked out to find her in a pool of her own blood, coming from a cut on her forehead. Shouting he scrambled to her, picking her up off the ground and laying her on the dining room table. He noticed how cold her hands felt when the rest of her body was burning warmer than the fire he was standing next to. Sakura was sick and now she was bleeding. He took the time she was passed out to stitch up the wound on her head and then stripped her of his clothing, which he noted was damp. Picking her up again in his arms, he walked to the bedroom and laid her on the bed and covered her with all the blankets that were clean and dry.

Through the night he spent his time making cool compresses for her forehead and repeatedly making sure that she was warm despite her own radiating heat. It would be three days before she even opened her eyes again.


	10. Have at life

Hi guys, I know I've been gone for a very long time. With school and death in my family, it has taken a lot for me to finally feel okay enough to find the inspiration to write. Plus, Otakon and making a new cosplay for it took up sooo much time. But as I am feeling better, I am ready to give a new chapter. As always, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in it. Enjoy my lovelies.

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Three days later is when Sakura finally opened her eyes. For three days Sasuke had been caring for her and doing his best reading from the medical texts that she had packed to keep her alive. Her fever had reached a high on day two forcing him into the nearby village to get help. He wasn't always good at everything it seemed. Sakura was a better medic than him. He would change that soon, once she got better.

"Sa-Sasuke, water?" Sakura's voice broke through his thoughts as he put the book down.

"Sakura.." He felt her forehead, her fever had broken and she wasn't clammy and sweaty.

"Water, please" She repeated hoarsely.

Moving with speed he ran to the sink and filled a glass with water for her and hurried back.

" I'll need help sitting up. I feel so weak Sasuke."

"You've been out for 3 days. You should feel weak. Here." He said as he pulled her up and handed her the glass.

"Three days? That's gonna do a hell of a number on my systems. Thanks for the water. Will you help me get down? I'd like to go to the bathroom. I feel so revolting right now." Sakura cleared her voice and propped up.

"I'll do you one better. I am gonna run you a hot bath. This place has one that's as big as a pool. Can you wait a few minutes? I'll put you on the couch while you wait." He said as he grabbed her under her knees and the low of her back and moved her.

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you."

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Ten minutes later, she was floating in a sea of warmth. Held up by Sasuke as he helped to clean her up. He had cleaned her up after the fact but this was a better clean and at least she was awake.

"Sakura, when you are better I need you to teach me the basics of medical ninjutsu. And until your better, you're in charge. What you say goes within reason. Got that?" Sasuke said as he began to dry her and put fresh dry clothes on her.

"Fine. For now, I need to be on a liquid diet. My stomach won't take solid food right now. And I need a lot of rest. For at least a week. Can that happen?"

"Shouldn't be an issue. I think we might even be able to do two weeks here before Kabuto can locate us. Rest up."

….Two weeks later…

"Sakura. We need to get moving. Half of my tracker traps have been tripped and I can smell him coming for us." Sasuke said as he shook Sakura awake.

"What? Are we packed?" she said startled and started putting on pants.

"The armor and weapons are. I have some clothes packed too. We don't have time to pack up yours. We can get some new stuff when we get where we are going. Let's get moving. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Where are we going next?"

"Hidden Mist Village. We gotta pick up someone. Get moving. I'll hold onto the packs on our way."

"Give me the lighter one and I'll be fine," Sakura said as she picked up a pack and placed it on her back. Grabbing the stick that Sasuke had made her to help get around and left through the door. Stopping once she felt a pull on her arm from the mark.

"Sasuke? Are you coming?"

"Yeah. Go on ahead. I'll be along in a minute. You can break the 40-yard rule for now." His voice resonated from inside the building.

She saw the faintest of orange and knew he was burning the building down. Why she couldn't fathom but she went on ahead of him. Not knowing that it would be a very bad idea.

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Ten minutes later she felt a familiar chakra flicker into existence behind her. It seemed a little different though.

"Sasuke? Is that you?" She called out to the dark forest.

The sky above looked like it would dump buckets at any point. As the chakra got closer, it changed, grew darker in nature. This was not Sasuke's chakra. She quickly hid her own chakra and found a place to hide as well as dropped down several genjutsu to hide her presence. Watching from the corner of her hiding place she watched as the chakra approached and became solid. Standing not four feet from her was indeed an Uchiha. But it was not the one with whom she was traveling. Standing there in all his menace was Itachi Uchiha. From his hair to his feet he was every much the same stature as Sasuke, except for the fact that he seemed to hunch over just a little bit. Though hard to tell with the cloak.

Rain began pouring just as he came into sight and Sakura held her breath. She couldn't defeat the younger Uchiha brother so there was no way she would even remotely survive a minute with the older one. Sasuke had said that he would teach her how to call out to him with the mark he gave her, but he had never gotten around to it. Yes, she had her chakra, no she wouldn't even try to fight her way out of this one. The only way that she would survive this experience is if she was able to remain hidden.

She had done this once before when hiding from Kakashi and even his dogs hadn't been able to find her so she was fairly confident that she would remain hidden.

"Sakura. I know that you are there. Behind the tree. Drop the Jutsu and come out here. I will not harm you unless you don't obey my orders." Itachi said into the forest.

Still, she did not drop her guard. Sakura did, however, step out from her hiding place.

"What do you want? Sasuke should be here any moment and he won't take kindly to you being here. What with killing the whole family he had."

"I would watch myself if I was you girl. I said I would not hurt you but you are testing my patience quite a bit. Get over here. I understand that my little brother is on his way. He is flying here as fast as he can. He smelled my chakra almost 2 miles ago. He will be here any second." Itachi said calmly as he grabbed Sakura's arm. "I see he's marked you. I wonder how he will fair once I take away his favorite toy from him." He sneered just as Sasuke burst through the underbrush of a tree on the left of them.

"Sakura. Get away from him." Sasuke shouted as he began a fireball Jutsu.

"I would stop if I were you, dear brother. I have a hold on her and she won't be going anywhere. At least with you. For now, I think I would like to play with her. I will be taking her with me." Itachi goaded Sasuke into a fury.

"She belongs to me. GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" Sasuke raised his voice as he spoke.

"No." Was all Itachi replied with. "She will be leaving here with me. Sakura. Come with me."

"No! Let me go now." Sakura whimpered.

"Again, no"

That was it. Sakura was now furious and decided she had had enough of both the Uchiha brothers and closed up her fist and laid it into Itachi's stomach. Sending the older Uchiha into a nearby tree as well as taking down said tree with the force of his hit. Watching as he got up, Sakura grew scared. His demeanor had changed and she could smell the anger radiating off of Itachi.

"You're going to regret that girl. Kisame, grab her. I'll take care of Sasuke. Get her to base." Itachi ordered as a hulking man-made of blue came into vision.

"Hi, pinkie. Your coming with me." He said as he kicked her into the stone wall behind him and she fell into unconsciousness. "I got her Itachi. Don't take to long."

"Good. Go." Itachi smirked at their new captive.

"SAKURA!"


	11. new life

Hi guys! I'm back with another update. I think I got really inspired by life and am giving off another chapter from my mind. Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto. I wish I did

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"Ugh. My head is pounding. Sasuke can you get me some water?" Sakura asked as she went to sit up. "And why is the bed so hard?"

"That's a no to the water and it isn't a bed. It's the floor. It was late and I didn't feel like carrying you the whole way to the base. Don't try anything, I've got your chakra maintained with that collar there and I can smell you from miles away." Kisame said as he bit into a fish he had roasted.

"What the hell!? Where am I? Where is Sasuke?" Sakura screamed at him as she stood.

"You're stuck here with me at the moment and as for Sasuke, I don't think you will be seeing him for quite a while, maybe even ever again. Itachi has had his eye on you for years. He just wanted to wait until you were worth his effort. A little weakling like you, I didn't think you were worth even the effort that we used to track your ass down. It's a nice ass but damn." Kisame said as he continued to chow down on fish.

"I am leaving. You can tell Itachi he can disappear back down whatever rabbit hole he came from and leave my life for good. In fact, both Uchiha's can do that." She said as she started walking.

Almost immediately her arm was burning. Like holy fire trying to rid the earth of all things.

"What the fuck! Sasuke! I don't even know where I am much less where you are. Stop calling for me! AAAAAHHHH!" Sakura screamed as she fell to the ground grasping her arm.

Hours passed with the burning sensation and Sakura's discomfort before she finally passed out from the pain. Kisame had long since tied her up in order to prevent her from tearing her skin off and killing herself.

"Kisame. What is the meaning of this? She's docile as long as you show her respect." Itachi said as he came upon the campsite.

"Dude. She just freaking wigged out on me. Screaming and grabbing her arm like it was on fire. I didn't know how to stop it so I just made it so that she couldn't continue to hurt herself." Kisame explained as Itachi picked the girl up and placed her slouched against the wall of the cave they were in.

"Keep her out until we reach the base, he's got her marked and in order to prevent her from dying, I need to stop his claim to her. In order to do that I need her to be as rested as possible. Got it?" Itachi ordered as he sat and grabbed a fish.

"Roger that. What are we keeping her for anyway? Like why did we go and get her?" Kisame asked.

"For reasons of my own. Leader already knows that she is coming and is happy to have a medic at the base to care for the injuries that come in. she will stay with me in my room and will be fully under my control. I have the needed things at the base in the mist to overwrite her mark so that it reads for me instead of my little brother. I will say though, it's beautiful work that was done. It's a shame its got to be covered up. Finish eating. I will carry her the rest of the way." Explained Itachi as he went about packing the sight up.

"What happened to that little brother of yours? Did you kill him?"

"No, but he won't be moving for a very long time after that battle."

"Right."

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A few hours of travel later and the group was at the base in Mist and were barely making their way through the doorway before several members were making their faces shown.

"This the girl?" One with blond hair asked.

"Yes. This is Sakura Haruno. I will be needing the medical facilities for a few hours. She's got a problem that I did anticipate but was hoping to avoid. She can't do anything in her current state except scream in agony. Off with you Deidara. I don't need you taking over and screwing something up for me." Itachi indicated.

"Fine fine. As soon as she can walk through, the boss wants to see her pronto."

"It will be at least a day. There are a few other things I need to set into place like the coding to her new mark so that she can't disappear from us" huffed Itachi.

"Fine by me. It's not my ass on the line for some female." Deidara said as he walked off into the dark.

Itachi grabbed Sakura off the ground and slung her over his shoulder and walked down the meandering hallways until he reached a well-lit room filled with medical supplies. He laid her down on the examination table and grabbed the cuffs he had previously requisitioned for this particular problem and restrained her. If she woke up this would be very problematic for his plans.

On the counter next to her sat a trey filled with knives and a few different herbs that he would need. Granite Mortar and pestle next to those as well as various liquids in test tubes. He spent the next few hours grinding up a liquid that would inhibit Sasuke's mark on Sakura as well as make him able to place his own. He was waiting on Hidan to make it to the base so that he could have him do the tattoo. Itachi while good at everything was not an artist and he didn't want to leave Sakura with a mark to scare away the devil. Just one that staked his own claim.

Placing a brush in the liquid, he began to paint over the mark on her arm and let it dry. Doing so many times over and taking several hours to complete. Once done he wove his Jutsu and she glowed for a solid minute as it took effect and removed his little brothers' blood from her stream.

"You called Itachi? Finally, want to let me mark up your skin?" Hidan said as he entered the room. "Woah! Who's the broad?"

"She is Sakura. And it's her you'll be marking up. This is the ink for you. I made several shades for you to use and I just want it to be just like this" He hands Hidan a paper that Konen had helped him draw up previously. "use the colors as you would like. Just make it tasteful."

"Where do you want to go?" Hidan asked as he got out his kit and set up.

"Around her neck. I don't want it to be easy to hide from anyone. It's my mark and I need it to be easy to see." Itachi said as he sat in the chair that was in the room to wait it out.

"She gonna wake up for this? I don't want her to wake and screw up my ink. Once done it can't be undone." Hidan asked before he got to work.

"She shouldn't. I gave her a little extra sedative while I was getting her ready for the tat. She should be out cold for at least the next five hours. Get to work. I have a very limited window to do this. Sasuke will be waking out of his illusion any minute now and I know he can track her until I get this new mark done." Itachi murmured.

"Fine fine. I'll get started. It's gonna be a few hours till I need help to turn her over. Go get something to eat." Kisame flaked off.

"No. I'm good."

…. several hours later….

"It's done Itachi. Come take a look." Hidan said as he got off his seat so Itachi could inspect his work.

Getting up with a grunt, Itachi made his way over to the table that Sakura lay on. Her neck was now covered in a multitude of colors that collided with each other in an array that was very reminiscent of both stained glass as well as swirling patterns of lace. At the very top were dots of all different colors that reminded him of the blood that flowed up when one pricked themselves on a kunai. Cream-colored skin separated these dots from the rest of the design. Below it was an inch and a half of intricate lacework that would make a weaver jealous. It was made with solely the Uchiha colors. A deep blue that seemed to have no end, paired with the blackest black the Uchiha thought he had ever seen with flecks here and there of both the white and red of the Uchiha fan. Again, there was a break that was of cream and more of those dots. On the very back of her neck stood the Uchiha fan.

"If you look closely in the lacework is your name. I added it in because I saw the opportunity. It's done in the silver I asked you to make a few hours ago. It's almost invisible unless you know it's there." Hidan muttered as Itachi admired his handiwork.

"It looks great. I can't believe how intricate it is. Well done. I need to get her changed and woken up so I can get her to the leader for induction." Itachi said as he began removing her straps from her limbs and carried her bridal style to his room.

Itachi's room was the closest to the training field but it was the furthest from everything else. He had moved to this room when he had made his decision to steal Sakura away from his little brother as it was actually bigger than his original room and would hold two people far more comfortably. He placed her down on his bed and just looked at her. From her head to her toes he now owned her. Sasuke's mark was nicer than his. With his, being so prevalent, he could control every aspect of her being. From how she felt to making her do anything.

"Sakura. Wake up" He ordered, giving his mark a test.

Her eyes opened up and she immediately shrank away from him.

"Where am I? Why have you taken me?" She screamed as she threw several pillows at him.

Easily dogging the said pillows "I took you for my own reasons. For now, I have control over you. Sasuke's claim is no longer valid in any way. He can't even track you right now. I would like it if you would follow the simple rules I have set in place. If you do your time here will be, for the most part, pleasant. I can't guarantee it will all be sunshine and roses, but it will be pleasant for the most part. For now, go clean yourself up. There are fresh clothes in the bathroom for you and a hot tub. You've got thirty minutes." Itachi explained as he directed her to the bathroom with a nod of his head.

Feeling the fear in her core, she nodded and schlep off of the bed and into the bathroom. Less than a minute later, a scream that could curdle milk erupted from the room. Sakura stormed out and slammed Itachi against a wall.

"WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!" She shrieked as she pointed at her neck.

"That is my mark. Now girl. Get. Your. Hands. Off. Of. Me or you will regret it. Unless I tell you to touch me, your hands aren't to touch my skin." He ordered.

As soon as he said it, a fire burned at the back of her neck and radiated around it. Still, she did not let up.

"I can't get rid of this!" She yelled, pounding him into the wall again.

"I know. That's why I put it there. Men here do not take kindly to a lady. Even a tame one. Marking you made you mine alone. None of them will touch you, so long as you follow my orders. Which for now are to get your hands off of me, and go to get ready to meet the leader. NOW." He ordered.

The pain grew stronger, it now felt like she was melting from the neck down. She had to let go, and she did. Dropping her arm from his chest and headed into the bathroom. Only as she entered the bathroom did the pain stop.

"Why me? Why does everyone seek to control me?" She asked to no one in the room as she began to get undressed and get in the tub to wash up.

….an hour later….

"Itachi? I'm coming out." Sakura called as she opened the door.

"About time. Are you dressed?" Itachi said without looking at her.

"Yes, I am. I'd like to request something though." Sakura asked as she stepped out of the room.

"Hm. It will cost you. A price of my own choice. Deal?" Itachi smirked.

"Fine. I'd like less skimpy clothing. This skirt barely covers me." She grumbled as she stretched the skirt to cover more of her.

"I'll agree to a few pairs of pants. Of my choosing. The rest of your clothes stay though. I think you look rather…. interesting in the ones I've chosen. I'd like to keep it this way." Itachi said as he looked her up and down.

She wore a shirt the color of red that had a deep v that showed off a lot of her cleavage which was then covered with fish netting to keep it modest. A black leather skirt that barely covered her bottom with fishnet leggings and her own combat boots.

"Where did you get these? I had to have them custom made for me?" Sakura asked as she cinched them on.

"Same place you did. Just told the guy I was surprised you with a few pairs of new boots. As for my price, lose the bra." He smirked.

He watched as her jaw basically hit the floor.

"What?"

"You want pants, I want your bra. Do we have a deal?"

"This is revolting. No. I will not give you my bra in order to get a few pairs of pants." Sakura said with a face of disgust.

"Well then. Let's get moving. Boss wants to see you." Itachi grabbed her arm and began to drag her out.

"I can walk on my own." Was all she said.

"Then walk."


	12. The begining of the destruction

**Hi guys. The third chapter in less than two weeks. I really am sorry I was gone so long from you all. And that my story has gone soft. I would expect this chapter to be much different. Itachi adds a new dynamic to the story, doesn't he? If you like this chapter and want more like it let me know. I always have a dark side to my mind. As always, I don't own Naruto. Enjoy my lovelies.**

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…..Three days after Sakura's capture…..

"You know darling? You could make this so much easier on yourself. Just obey the orders given to you and we won't have to hurt you anymore." Hidan said as he gave Sakura another punch to the face.

Sakura, unable to avoid the hit, simply took it. For the last three days, this had been her life. Someone would give her an order, she would refuse to follow through, then she would be punished. This time Hidan had told her to go make him some food to eat. In response, she had told him to get up off of his fat, lazy ass and cook for himself. This was the rule, she had been told. Follow the orders given, and she would lead a relatively good life here. Disregard the rules and it was fair game for anyone to punish her. Within certain limits, they could do whatever they wanted to her. Itachi had made it very clear to both her and everyone else that she was not to be abused sexually. So at least she had that going for her.

"All I wanted was some food darling. You had to make it hard. I will say though, that shade of red that spills from you with every hit is a very fetching color on you. Matched your hair and clothes." Hidan said as he smacked her again and again.

"Hidan. That's enough. She's already out cold. Give her to me." Itachi innerved, grabbing his next hit.

"Itachi, you said we could punish her ourselves if she defies orders."

"I also said within reasons. She's completely out cold. She learns nothing from being smacked around out cold." Itachi replied as he cut her down and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Losing out on all the fun man. Take her. I'm bored already." Hidan said as he left.

Itachi hoisted her up onto his shoulder and walked her out to their room. She had not acclimated well to her new surroundings; she was causing a fuss every time she left the room they shared.

"Sakura. Up." He ordered as he laid her on the bed.

"Itachi, what the hell." She said as she sat up.

"Why must you insist on not doing what you're told? It's only going to get worse for you."

"Because I am my own person. You men all seem to think that I am some piece of meat built to do your bidding. I am not just a piece of meat." Sakura said as she got up from the bed.

"I am getting very close to pulling all limits with you girl. I am not a gentleman either. Start following orders or I will be taking matters into my own hands. You have very little time to turn your attitude around." He said as he began to inspect her.

"No broken bones. Just a cracked rib or two. Nothing that I can't handle." She said as she slapped his hands away from her sides.

"Sakura." He growled. "You know the rules. I either examine you after you screw up or you lose some rights that have already been granted to you. Like leaving this room or food. Now, choose what you want."

"Fine. Finish up quickly. I don't like you touching me." Sakura said as she removed her shirt so he could look at her ribs.

Calloused hands moved up and down her sides. Pressing here and there checking for broken bones and contusions. Several cracked ribs were found in the process as well as a broken finger.

"Heal the finger and ribs. Leave everything else to heal naturally." He said, activating her chakra along with those words.

"Thanks. I'm gonna shower."

"Sakura. Look at me." Itachi ordered and she complied.

"Stay in this room for the rest of the week. I'll be gone until Friday. Don't leave this room. I'll have food delivered to you. Understand?"

Feeling the burn around her neck, Sakura understood that this was a direct order that would prevent her from bypassing his law. Nodding in agreement and grabbing a towel. He never actually used the mark he placed on her all that much. Just when he was reading her the rules and on occasion when she really pissed him off. He otherwise let her dig her own grave. His only rules were that she was to obey which were that every order he gave her, that she wasn't to touch him without his consent, that she kept the room and bathroom clean and that she wasn't to leave the base by any means without an escort. That was it. She was otherwise left to her own devices. Itachi was never gruff with her, he wasn't kind, however. She just couldn't figure him out.

That night her food was delivered to her room by Deidara. Who was very unpleased to have this task. Opening the door to the room, she grabbed the tray of food from him and went to close the door. Only the door did not close as intended.

"Don't I get a tip for delivery of food?" He pouted as he came up behind her.

"Deidara. You can't be in this room. This is the one place I am supposed to be able to be alone. Get out." Sakura said as she sat down to begin eating her meal.

"Since when is it you that can give orders to us? This mark" he pointed at her neck "makes it the other way around. I don't like that you seem to think that you can run this town. I think it's time you figured out just who is in charge between us."

"In this room I am. The only person who can outrank me in this room is Itachi. Get out before I make you get out. I can defend myself here." Sakura scowled.

This comment earned her a slap to the face that sent her flying into a nearby wall. If looks could kill, Deidara would have melted into oblivion. She launched herself off the wall and fired up a famous punch at the same time. Landing it squarely in Deidara's stomach she sent him flying through both a wall and a door to her bathroom.

"I told you. I can defend myself here. I don't have the same restrictions here in this room that I do other places on this godforsaken base. LEAVE. NOW." She smiled and sat back down.

Next thing she knew, there was a sound and then she was in a decent amount of pain. Blood dripping from her mouth, she looked down. Stemming from her own stomach was the bloody end of a blade.

"Look what you made me do. I didn't want to hurt you but you gave me no choice. I did enjoy the fight though. Now, however, is my turn." Deidara laughed as he ripped the sword from her back.

Blood soon covered the floor as Sakura slipped off of the chair she had sat on and fell to the floor. Only just catching herself before her face hit the ground. Deidara grabbed her by her arm and flung her to the bed, sending blood flying everywhere as he did so. He grabbed several blades from his weapons pouch and tore off her shirt in a fit of glee. Throwing the remnants of the fabric to the floor he turned her over so that she lay on her stomach, Sakura having lost to much blood to fight back.

"I'll give you a reason to remember who is in charge here. Hold still and don't make a word and it will be over quickly. Do either of those and it will only get worse for you. Nod your head if you understand." He said as he sat on her lower back.

Sakura nodded and remained still and quiet after. Deidara placed the knives in hand and began drawing with its tip a delicate pattern in her skin. Switching between blades when he felt one was dirty. Intricate leaves, vines and even tree branches grew and spanned her backside. Through this torment, Sakura was able to remain silent and still and was thanking God for the training Tsunade had placed her through that had made her able to handle this. After some time, Deidara stopped. He seemed to be satisfied with his work and left her. She heard water running and the knifes clinking from him cleaning them. She remained still until his return.

"Heal yourself up from the fight. Leave your back alone. Then head to see Konan in the medical lab. You might need a pint or two of blood. Do you understand?" Deidara said as he put away his knives.

"Yes." She said as she began to heal up, starting from her most grievous injury to the least.

She then left what was left of her and Itachi's room and went to the lower levels to see Konan.

"What the hell happened to you?" Konan yelled as she rushed over to Sakura.

"Deidara had a fit. I'll need some green tea ointment and a lot of bandages. I might need help putting them on too. He got a little carried away." Sakura said as she shed her shirt and turned so Konan could see the problem.

"What the fuck. That is…so screwed up. Here. Lay down, I'm going to place the bandages for you. You won't be able to place your own bandages where all of this is. I'm gonna clean it first. I can't have you getting an infection. The only person who could fix it if there is one is you. They aren't supposed to go this far." Konen coaxed.

"I know. Itachi's gonna flip. Deidara's days are very likely numbered."

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Sakura walked back to the shattered room that she had yet to finish cleaning up. She could not get the blood out of the comforter and getting it off of the wall was impossible. What didn't help was every time she moved her back in any way, she would bleed right through her bandages. Itachi would be back soon and he did not take kindly to a mess. She had found that out day one when he threw her through a wall for not putting her clothes away properly.

"Sakura. What happened to the room?" she heard Itachi's cold voice ask.

"Ask Deidara." She said as she grabbed a rather large piece of drywall and picked it up, only to drop it and cower.

"I was asking you. What happened to the room?"

"Deidara started a fight. He barged into the room talking about giving him some kind of 'tip' for delivering dinner to me. I told him politely to get out and he started a war….. which I lost because I didn't have my chakra to help defend myself. I need to see Konan. I have to replace my bandages. I am working on cleaning it up, but even I can't make miracles work. The bathroom is shot." Sakura said as she got up from the floor, her back covered in fresh blood.

"Take off your shirt."

"What. No. Why?"

"I want to see what he did. Take off your shirt Sakura"

"No. It's fine. I'll heal up soon."

"Sakura. Shirt. Off. Now. I'm not asking." Itachi's eyes were ablaze of red and black.

"Fine."

Sakura turned away from him and removed her shirt. Her back covered in red soaked bandages. Itachi moved toward her and began peeling them off her back. Underneath them was a maze of design that was very clean cut and easy to see. Deidara had signed his handiwork as well.

"Heal your back. This would take months to heal. I'm revoking the rule of no chakra. You need to be able to defend yourself." Itachi said as he touched her back along the lines Deidara had cut.

He watched as her chakra healed the lines right before his eyes. Blood clotting and then disappearing altogether. All that would be left is a scar. A very bright one, but a scar none the less. Her back still covered in blood, Itachi walked into the bathroom and grabbed a bucket.

"Stay here. I'll be back"

"Fine." She said as she went to put her shirt back on.

"Shirt off."

"You are impossible."

"Yes, but I also own you. Deal."

A few minutes later, he was back with a rag and the bucket full of water. Dumping the rag into the bucket Sakura found that the water was warm. His touch was for the most part gentle.

"I told you. If you behave. It is much easier for you."

"Only with you. Why am I here anyway? You still haven't told me that."

"Your actually here to heal me. I don't know what is wrong with me. It's your job to figure that out. Understand?"

"Makes sense. I've seen how you walk. What makes you think I will do it through?"

"Because I'm not giving you a choice. You can either do it or I can make you do it. It's your choice of how it happens." He said as he finished cleaning off the blood from her back. "you're going to have a large scar across your back."

"I can deal with that. I will not heal you though. That's a big no." She said as she grabbed a shirt off the ground and put it on.

"That's my shirt. But seeing as how I can't tell heads from tales in here. We're moving into the next room over. I have everything set for your procedure." Itachi said as he grabbed his cloak and walked out.

"Crap."

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 **That's all for now. I do have an announcement. I have we-written chapter 1 and will be soon re-writing chapter 2 and possibly 3. I realized that as I grew more into this story, my start was a little to light. Let me hear how you feel. I can only do better through criticism!**


	13. Changes

**Chapter 13 people! Chapter 13. I never thought I would make it this far. Or that I would have as many readers as I do for this story. I am a little sad that I haven't seen and feedback, but such is life. As for this chapter, it's gonna be a head spinner. Hold on and strap in.**

 **As always, I don't own Naruto.**

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"I will not be healing you. That is final." Sakura said as she sat on the bed.

"You will. Look over the tools while I shower. I'm covered in way too much filth for an exam." Itachi said as he grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom.

Sakura pulled the trey table over, it had everything she would need for an exam. Gloves, scope, other various utensils, most notably there was a scalpel. She grabbed it and took off the protective top from it and felt the blade. It was razor-sharp and cut her finger open quickly. Watching the blood dribble down her finger.

"Sakura. You know the rules, right?" Itachi said as he walked out from the bathroom.

Steam followed him out of the bathroom. His hair out of its normal low hanging ponytail, water dripping off of the midnight black strands. Those very same drops hitting his chest as they fell off his hair. Sakura watched those drops pass his chiseled abs.

"Sakura. You do know I don't ask twice, yes?" Itachi asked again as he grabbed the corner of the white towel that was draped around his neck and wiped his face.

"Yes. I know. I cannot touch you without consent. I know the rules." Sakura said as she healed her finger.

"Good. Now. How do you want to proceed?"

"I'm going to bed. I don't care what you- "Sakura began.

"Sakura." Burning instigated from the neck "You will heal me."

"No. I refuse. I will not heal a villain against Konoha. You need to find another healer." Sakura said as she laid in the bed.

That did not last long. Itachi did not take well to being told no. He grabbed Sakura's ankle and threw her into a wall. Watching her slump on the wall, he strode over to her. She was coming back to consciousness when he put his hand around her neck and picked her up, effectively pinning her against the wall. His hand was tight, but not so tight that she couldn't breathe. It was just enough to create a sense of fear that leached into her emerald eyes.

"Sakura, you will figure out what's wrong with me. I will not have this disobedience from you. You think my younger brother was bad? I won't hessite to take everything from you. I can make it so that the only person you ever see again is me. I will burn down everything you love, everyone dear to you I will kill in front of your very eyes. You will lose everything. Now, you have two choices. Which will you choose? Will you help me? Or will you kill an entire village?" His eyes leeched red into the black abyss as he spoke:" Pick one."

He watched as the light from Sakura's eyes faded a bit, the fight leaving her. In order for her to respond to him, he loosed his grip just a little. Her head hung forward so that he could no longer see her face.

"I'll look you over. I can make no promise to heal your condition until I know what it is. Some things can't be healed." She said with a defeated tone.

He had won. Letting her go, she dropped heavy like a sack of potatoes only to land as light as a feather on her feet.

"Go lay on the bed. I'm gonna wash up before I examine you." Sakura said as she left him alone.

"God damn Uchiha's"

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She came out of the bathroom with gloves already on her hands. Not the ones he had left on the trey, but the ones she wore into battle. She was most comfortable in them and could always do a better job of healing and diagnosing illness with them. She looked over and say that Itachi was sitting on the bed, waiting for her. Walking over, she grabbed a notepad that was waiting for her.

"I'll need to know what's going on first, before anything else. I need your symptoms for anything to happen." Sakura said as she pulled up a chair.

"I can't breathe, whenever I try to take deep breaths I cough and all that comes up is blood. It's affecting my ability to stand properly because I can breathe a little better when I hunch over a bit. I am also losing my eyesight. I estimate I have approximately 70% of it left. I also occasionally bleed from my eyes and ears."

"What the…. There is no way all of that is true!" Sakura chortled as she dropped her pen to the floor.

"See for yourself. Just do what I brought you here to do." Itachi said as he laid back so Sakura could examine him.

She stood and began with his eyes. Sending her chakra in to inspect. What she found astounded her. Because of overuse of his eyes, Itachi had begun to short out the stems of his ocular nerves which were dying off at an alarming rate. In just the minute she had been in there, he lost just over fifty. Next, she looked around his head, there was nothing wrong there. She could deduce that the overuse of his eyes was stressing his brain and that was why he was bleeding from his ears and eyes. The two pathways were connected by nerves and at the junction, they connected there was massive inflammation. She began working on the inflammation. As for his eyesight, she would need to do more research on the Uchiha eye. For a little under an hour, she worked on the inflammation until it was finally gone.

Moving down she checked out his chest, specifically his lungs which he was complaining about. Upon looking at those she knew what the problem was, and it would take months to fix. He had originally gotten a broken rib. Which was not taken care of and then punctured his long with fragments of bone. Those then were grown around and covered with lung tissue and were poisoning his system. Sakura would have to operate to get them out and they would have to come out. She knew that Itachi would be none too keen on letting her do surgery on him. Most of his problems were easy to solve, except his eyes.

"Itachi. Sit up. We got to talk." She said as she retracted her chakra.

He sat up and looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong with me?"

"Well, your breathing problem is well, a problem. You got a broken rib that healed poorly and that is causing you breathing problem. I would have to operate to fix it but it's easy enough to fix. Five- or six-hour operation at most. Your eyes are a different story. Since there are almost no Uchiha, I haven't been able to study the Uchiha eye. I have studied the Hyuga eye and it seems similar enough, but I really need time with your eyes. Overuse of your sharingon is the cause, at least I believe so." Sakura explained.

"The eyes I actually know what's going on with. It's in those books over there. That is the entire library of the Uchiha, at least everything about our eyes. I didn't find the family trees to be something to save. It's a well-known problem from our line. Hyuga has the same problem but on a less so scale. Please feel free to look through those books at your pleasure." Itachi said as he fully sat up. "The lungs I didn't know about."

He watched as Sakura cleaned up from his exam and then watched as she hit the ground. He rushed over and pulled her off the ground, her chakra was dangerously low. Any lower and she would die from chakra exhaustion. He put her onto the bed and sat in the chair she had previously been in. She had almost killed herself to find out what was wrong with him, and for some reason, he didn't like that fact.

He was growing fond of her presence here. Which was a problem. He moved a single strand of bubble gum pink hair from her face.

…. Meanwhile back in Konoha…

"Shizune! Come here! I found our loophole!" Tsunade yelled as she grabbed another bottle of sake.

"What have you found Mi' lady?" Shizune said as she ran in.

"All we have to do is create this concoction and place it over Sakura's mark."

"Mark? Mi' lady' what are you talking about? What mark?" Shizune questioned.

"Sasuke made the deal with me that if he won the battle, he not only won Sakura but he would also mark her. For him to do that, we had to relinquish our right to her. Basically, oust her from the village. Every ninja when they become anbu get a mark right? That mark helps the village keep track of its own ninja. We gave up our rights to her mark. In doing so it allowed Sasuke to mark her as his own as he saw fit." Tsunade explained to a very confused Shizune.

"So, we just have to cover Sasuke's mark with this goop and his claim will be removed," Shizune said as she sat down.

"Just one problem though. Well, two actually. We don't know where she is, and we would have to get past Sasuke. The latter of which might just damn well be imposable. Sasuke is possessive over her, to a freighting length. I don't think he would let anyone near her." Tsunade said as she shot back the sake.

"Yeah. That would be a problem" A new voice cut into their conversation.

Both women turned to look at the window behind the desk and saw Sasuke sitting there leisurely, leg swinging. He looked worse for wear. Bruises littered his body along with several cuts and a black eye. Looked like someone had really taken a beating to him. Yet he looked relaxed. Almost as though he belonged within the village and wasn't a wanted criminal.

"Uchiha! What are you doing here?" Tsunade said as she jumped up.

"Hold your horses' woman. I'm not here to start a fight. I have a request. Bring Naruto and Kakashi here and I'll tell you everything."

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Opening her emerald eyes Sakura instantly noticed that she was in bed, a place she would have remembered crawling into after that amount of medical work. She also noticed that Itachi was not in bed with her. Reaching over she found that indeed, the bed next to her was cold. No one had slept there. She got up and grabbed a towel, intent on showering away the last few days. The hot water helping to relax her muscles from all the aches. Her back was still sensitive from what Deidara had done to her back. She still couldn't believe it. He had carved her up like she was a piece of his clay. When she got out, she looked over her shoulder at it, it really was quite pretty, for such a horrifying experience she was mesmerized.

When she finally regained her senses and finished drying up, she wrapped herself in the towel and stepped out of the bathroom. It was then that she saw Itachi asleep on a sofa chair. He was still without a shirt, just as she had left him after the exam. His face was completely void of any emotion, but it was softer than it usually was. Almost as if he was dreaming. Sakura grabbed the comforter off the bed and draped it around his shoulders. Even if he was a villain, he deserved to be taken care of while he healed. That and it was in her nature to care for others, even if they showed no sign of caring for her.

At this motion, ebony eyes shot open and she suddenly found herself pinned to the bed by Itachi. His breath hard and ragged but warm on her face anyway.

"Itachi. It's just me. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just didn't want you to get cold."

His eyes searched her face for her sincerity. His hands held hers at either side of her head and he was so close to her. She smelled like him, it was then that he realized she was only covered by a towel, one that had come undone and was showing a dangerous amount of cleavage. Looking down his side, the towel had also ridden up to a very dangerous height. Her thigh was very exposed.

Itachi. Can you let go now? I'd like to eat. Healing you made me very hungry." Sakura said as she looked away from his face, cheeks slightly ablaze at their predicament.

"Yes, that's fine," Itachi said as he removed himself from the situation.

Sakura grabbed her stack of clothes and left for the bathroom.

While she was gone Itachi grabbed some clean clothes of his own and dressed. The last few minutes still running on replay in his head. She was having a very adverse effect on him and he did not like it.

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He watched as Sakura rummaged through the pantry only to sit at the table with a glass of water.

"What is the matter? Didn't you say you were hungry?" Itachi said as he sat down with a cup of coffee.

"I am. Just not for the stuff here. I would kill for some dumplings."

"Let's go get some then. You're doing what you're told. I want to reinforce good behavior." Itachi said as he sipped his drink.

"I am not a dog."

"No, you're not, but you are behaving. You deserve a reward."

"Fine. Can we walk through, I miss the sun. I haven't been able to enjoy it in what feels like forever." Sakura asked hopefully.

"Fine by me. I'll need to lay down some new rules though. We need to go see Kisame. He will need to write it into the code of my mark."

"Can't you just order it?"

"I could but it's stronger when written in. It is also a lasting order then. I have to give the verbal ones repeats occasionally."

"Oh."

"I also want to make sure that you can make use of our park. We had one built into the base for one of our original members. No one uses it now; I think you would enjoy it." Itachi smirked.

"Sounds like a plan, I guess. I need to recuperate from draining my stores before I get to work on your eyes. I also need to do the needed research." Sakura said as she looked around the rest of the kitchen.

"What are you looking for now."

"Tea. I am dying for a cup of tea."

"No tea here. We can grab some while we are out. We're going to do an overall shopping trip while we are out."

"Great! Now I'm actually excited! When do we leave?"

"Let me finish my drink and we can go. I need to grab some money from Kakuzu for the trip. I'll meet you in our room in 30 okay?"

"Fine by me."

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 **That's it for now folks! Till next time. Reviews make me work harder!**


	14. Red eyes

**Hey guys! I am so grateful for all of my new subscribers!**

 **Fstingsxx**

 **Jelybo**

 **Rogue9einlia**

 **I guess people really like the story so far. I am open to ideas on the way the story should go. Right now, I'm just following wherever I'd like the story to go that day. Lol. This chapter has a little more fluff than usual but I promise the next chapter will be full of delicious angst and abuse for Sakura. Let me know what you think lovelies!**

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After taking time to re-write her code a little they left the base. They traveled out of the base and to a little village that was about an hour away from the base. It was a quaint village that didn't have too much within it. It was a small fishing village with a few shops. This particular village was funded mostly by the Akatsuki base that was nearby, that way they had a way to make sure they got the needed materials as well as a decent way to travel. It was early spring and the cherry blossoms had just finished blooming and were in their peak prime. Pink petals fell all around them as they walked. Sakura looked like a child the way she smiled.

She walked just a few paces ahead of him. Her new rules restricting her movement. She had to stay within 10 feet of him as well as always being in his line of sight. She wasn't able to go off on her own unless it was to the bathroom but other than that she wasn't restricted too much.

"Sakura. Stay near me. We are almost there and I don't want anything to happen to you. Take my arm." Itachi said as the hustle and bustle of the town picked up.

They were now walking into the larger part of the town and there were plenty of people around.

"I'll be fine! I'm just happy to be in the sunlight." Sakura said as she spun in the crowd.

"Sakura. Follow your orders or you will face the consequences."

"Fine. Such a worrywart. I physically can't run away from you." Sakura said as she grabbed onto his arm as he told her to. "How are you able to wear your gear here though. Akatsuki is not well known for good deeds. Word could spread that you are here."

"We own this village. Other than the people here we own everything, from the land they live on, to the food they eat, and the animals they raise. Akatsuki owns it all, even the boats they sail. It's our way of making sure that we can have a steady supply of the things we need without being too prevalent within the procurement. It helps us hide well. Near every base is a village. Just makes things easier." Itachi explained.

"Ah. That makes a lot of sense actually. It's a very sound plan, plus it makes money in the long run. Kakuzu must be behind that."

"He is our money man." Itachi chuckled as he walked her into a tea shop.

"Welcome to my humble shop. Ask about anything- Uchiha-sama. What can I do for you?" The shop lady asked.

"Get her whatever tea and things to make it with that she likes. Please pick out a nice teapot set as well." Itachi said as he pointed at Sakura who had already gone off on her own.

"Not a problem good sir. I will make sure the lady has all she likes."

"Itachi, I really don't need it all. I am happy with a simple black tea."

"Get whatever you like. They even do tastings here. Did you want to do any?"

"What the!? Really? I can?" Sakura squealed happily.

"yes. Get whatever you want you'll be with us for a while anyway. May as well make yourself comfortable."

Sakura lit up like a Christmas tree on Christmas day. She grabbed a bunch of types of tea and began her tastings. It took an hour or two but she picked out the ones that she likes most and got a few ounces of each. The bags would be delivered to the hideout for them, another perk from owning the town they were in. They wouldn't have to carry around any bags with them. The next place they went to was a clothing store. Itachi needed some new shirts because he had lost several in the few most recent battles had had.

"Itachi."

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Does your offer still stand?"

"yes. Why?"

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Fine. You have three minutes to be right back here."

"Don't worry. I'm coming right back here."

Two minutes later Sakura returned. She grabbed Itachi's arm and palmed some fabric into his hand. She then walked off and began looking at the women's clothes. Itachi held his hand up and was greeted by a sight that he never in a million years thought he would see. In his hand sat a pair of pink lacy underwear. Looking at Sakura, he could see her blushing just a little and he smirked. She was playing a most dangerous game with him. Uchiha's never lose.

After a few hours, and several hundred thousand yen in clothes and tea and a few other types of items they headed home. Sakura humming and skipping just ahead of Itachi. The sunlight was shining on her, illuminating her hair which reached all the way to just below the small of her beck. It bounced off of her perky bottom.

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"So, everyone is here now. Speak Uchiha. Why are you here? You already have Sakura. What more could you want?" Tsunade said as she sat in her chair.

"Actually, Sakura has been stolen from me by my older brother. Itachi currently has her and I need help getting her back. I want to borrow both Naruto and Kakashi to accomplish that." Sasuke said from his perch.

"Why on earth would I allow that?" Tsunade jumped up to take him on.

"Hold on sugar tits, because I have a proposition for you. One that I know you won't refuse."

"Go on."

"If you lend me Naruto and Kakashi. When we retrieve Sakura, all four of us will return and remain in Konoha. Sakura and I included."

"You're kidding. Teme! You'd really return to the village?"

"As long as I have Sakura, I don't care where I am. Do we have a deal? Ne Tsunade?"

"Naruto. Kakashi. Go wake Sai and Ino as well. I want a larger than the normal team for this recovery. Both of Sasuke and of Sakura. Kakashi, you are captain. Sasuke you're second in command. You all leave at dawn. Go!" Tsunade ordered as she stood from her chair.

Sasuke smirked as he stood from his perch. Sakura would soon be back into his arms, his alone to toy with and break. He couldn't wait. He left the tower with eyes glinting full of lust and wickedness.

An hour later, Sasuke met the rest of the team at the gate that led out of the village. Nostalgia touching into his mind, the last time he had left the village playing on his mind. Sakura left on the bench and him off into the great unknown. Soon enough he would be back, this time walking in, the big difference though, would be the trophy he brought back with him. He would find Sakura and get her back in his grip, even if he had to burn down all of the five nations.

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Many weeks' worth of healing sessions later, Itachi's eyes sight was finally getting better. Sakura had figured out what had gone wrong with them and had corrected the problem in just a few minutes of search. The problem had been that Itachi had overused his eyes so much that he had caused massive swelling to the part of his brain that made him able to use his kekki Genkai. By reducing the swelling manually, his eyes would stop harming themselves on use, that would not remove the damage already done though. Fixing the damage would take far more time. Months if not a few years to fully fix the dead nerve endings in his eyes. Sakura had talked with Kakuzu and Sasori to have the needed medical equipment requisitioned for Itachi's surgery. They had figured out how to make sure that there was plenty of both supervisions as well as help for the surgery.

Itachi would create a shadow clone using Sasori's chakra that would observe and intervene if needed. Reason being and Itachi had not told her this, but if his heart stopped in any way, the marks link would be severed. If he stayed dead, it would be perinatally severed. He needed to make sure that Sakura didn't try to take him out while on the table.

"Sakura. Come here." Itachi said as she sat on the operation table.

"What is it? I'm prepping for your surgery. I need everything to be perfect so that nothing screws up during the procedure."

"Just come here, woman. It will only take a few minutes to get what I need to be done." Itachi said as he wrapped his hand around Sakura's wrists and tossed her lightly against the wall behind him.

He used his left hand to gather her wrists and pinned them above her head. Looking at her right in the eyes he spoke. As he spoke, she could feel the burn around her neck.

"If you in any way try to purposely harm me, you will regret it. You will never see the light of day again and I will make good on my promise to kill everything you love. However, if something out of your control happens, you are to do everything in your power to save my life. In the event you do not, your marks ownership will pass to Kisame. Do you understand?" He said as he held her face toward his, eyes bearing directly into her soul.

"I understand. I am a medic. I took an oath to protect my patients. Even the ones I did not sign onto having. I will do everything in my power to keep you from dying. My oath means everything to me. You do not have to worry." She said as she smiled.

"Good"

…. The very next day…

"Itachi. It's time. Put on this and get ready. Do me a favor and take a shower before putting it on though. Makes it more sterile. Come to the hall when your ready and ill put you under." Sakura said as she stepped out in her medical coat that had arrived just a few days earlier.

"Fine fine. I'll see you soon."

About a half-hour, later everything was set up and all that was missing was Itachi. She spent a few more minutes going over the needed texts on this particular surgery.

"Sakura"

"You're late. Get on the table and I'll put you under so we can get this over with. The light here sucks and I can't lose too much time." Sakura said as she watched Sasori file in behind Itachi.

It was then that she realized that she was surrounded by most of the Akatsuki. The only people missing were Konan and Zetsu. Everyone else was there. She watched as they all sat in chairs and began to wait out, all here to make sure the surgery went well.

"Get on with it pinkie. I ain't got all day." Shouted Kisame.

"Don't mind him. I'm ready."

Sakura grabbed the mask that was pulsating that sedative to put Itachi out.

"Count backward from 10."

"10, 9,8,7" His words began to slow and slur "6….9….2" and he was out.

Sakura grabbed ahold of the gown that Itachi had put on and pulled it off, exposing his chest and grabbed a scalpel to begin her work. She cut open his chest and began. Several hours in there was a problem. One of the pieces of rib she was removing nicked an artery.

"Sasori! I need gauze and 3 bags of the o-. Stat. Deidara put pressure here with this. Someone gets me some hot water!" Sakura shouted as he went into shock.

Everything arrived within record time and she was able to stabilize him again and continue his work. Piece by piece, she removed the problem that was causing Itachi not to be able to breathe. It took four hours longer than anticipated to finish it up and she grabbed a needle and thread to sew him back up.

"What are you doing pinkie?" Kisame said as he grabbed her hand.

"I need to stitch him up."

"You're going to heal him up. No stitching him. We need him in working compactly as soon as possible."

"You idiot. I will be doing that. But I need to stitch him first for two reasons. One, I cannot knit flesh back together if it's not close enough together and two, I'm at the end of my chakra as it is." Sakura said as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"Here. Take some of mine." Kisame said as he grabbed her arm.

"Fine. I still need to do the stitches."

"Then get to it."

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It took a few hours for Itachi to wake from the sedative.

"Sakura. My head is pounding."

"It will do that after being under so long. Your surgery took a tad bit longer than previously thought. Everything went almost without a hitch. You should be able to get up and move around in a few hours." Sakura said as she set up his iv bag.

"Sakura. What does 'almost without a hitch' mean?"

She looked down. "Your heart stopped for a few seconds. I got it going again, Sasori was a great help in that endeavor. I got you going again so it's all good."

"You did fine. Go get some tea. You deserve a break. Its been almost 12 hours on your feet."

"Thanks."

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"Itachi! The perimeter lines have been breached! Are you ready to go?" Deidara shouted as he ran into the room.

"Send Sakura to me! She's in the kitchen! I'm ready but I can't get this shit out of my veins without her."

"Roger."

A few minutes later Sakura ran into the room and forced him to lay down with her strength. She began to quickly pull out the iv bag and remove the rest of the sensors that had been placed onto him to monitor his condition. In all, it took just a minute or two to do. Just as soon as she had finished there was a massive explosion somewhere in the base.

"Sakura. Take this" Itachi handed her a sword. "and hide in the garden. I'm going to take stock of the situation and I will join you in the garden."

"You forgot to tell me not to leave the base with any of them." Sakura murmured to him as she grabbed the blade.

"No, I didn't. You already know that. You aren't stupid enough to try that." Itachi smirked as he leaped off into the dark toward the sound.

Sakura ran to the garden and hid with genjutsu and hid her chakra. Several minutes later and a hand on her shoulder made Sakura jump. She turned and ran the blade Itachi had given her to the neck of the person behind her. Only to stop short of actually causing any damage. Itachi looked at her over the blade.

"Itachi. I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you." Sakura stammered.

"It's alright. You couldn't have known. Put the blade down though, I know how sharp that thing is." Itachi chuckled.

"What's going on?" She asked curiously.

"My brother is here. Most likely for you. He appears to have given up on revenge. He's erratic. He's on his way here for you."

"Itachi… Please don't let him. He's dark. Different. Your brooding but him. He's gonna kill me one day. I just know it." Sakura said as she looked down.

"There's a lot of differences between my brother and I. Most I think are my fault. I'll do my best, he brought back up. Naruto is with him. They are currently in the middle of a battle with several members. If it comes down to it, I have been ordered to hand you over to them. I won't give you to Sasuke though. I'll hand you over to Kakashi. That way you go back to Konoha." Itachi said as he perked up, sensing chakra's pushing words him.

"Why?"

"Because he knows why I'm here. He knows if he turns you over to Kakashi then I don't get to keep you. It's all to piss me off. Hello, oniisan. Long-time, no see." Sasuke said as he stepped out from behind a tree

"I see you made it here. Where is Naruto?"

"Right behind me. Hand her over now." Sasuke snarled.

He held nothing but possession and malice in his eyes. Sakura could see all the pain and torture that he would inflict on her. Unconsciously, she grabbed onto Itachi's cloak with tight fingers and shook. His arm fell around her waist and he pulled her close to him. His hair fell to cover her face and she could see that he was getting possessive himself. It was a different kind of possession, one she couldn't quite place.

"Get your hands off of her. She belongs to me." Sasuke snarled and drew his sword.

"Dear brother. It would seem that your pet does not wish to return to your service. I would not wish her to be so afraid of me." Itachi said as he hid Sakura behind him.

"Itachi! She belongs to me. Ever since the day she told me she loved me. She has always belonged to me. Sakura. Come here now." Sasuke ordered.

Thankfully there was no burning when she did not follow his order. She just stayed where Itachi had placed her. Soon enough there was a blond head next to Sasuke's. The next time she looked away from Itachi there were more people she knew. Kakashi and Ino were there next to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" Naruto screamed.

"I'm fine."

"Sakura. There are far too many for me to take on. You are gonna have to go. I'll relieve you of your mark for now so it doesn't hurt you while you're away. I will come back and get you again though, so do not think you are free. Go to Kakashi as soon as I let you go. He already seems to know what I'm thinking because he's edging away from the rest. Go directly to him. Once you touch his arms, the mark will shut down and hide once you touch him." Itachi whispered as he began to edge Sakura toward Kakashi. "Go"

She ran as fast as she could and nearly collided with Kakashi's chest. His arms held her close and she could feel the relief as he spirited her away from the Akatsuki base. Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino followed. They ran until it got dark and then broke for camp.

"Sakura. Come here." She heard Sasuke order her.

"No." Was all she could even respond with.

The camp had grown quiet now.

"Sakura," Sasuke growled.

"No. I'm staying with Kakashi until we reach Konoha and then I will be going home with Ino. You will figure out things on your own." Sakura spat spitefully.

"You will regret those words woman." He stalked off into the underbrush of the trees.

"What's his problem," Ino asked as she laid out an extra sleeping mat for Sakura.

"He thinks he owns me. Don't know why but he does."

"Teme is coming home Sakura! He said if we helped to get you back, he and you would be able to return home!" Naruto smiled.

"Home. I see. Thank you, Naruto. Ino could I ask a favor?" Sakura asked as she looked at her best friend.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Will you sleep near me? I wasn't kidding when I said I was staying next to Kakashi's side until we reach the gates."

"Yeah sure."

…Several days later…

"Sakura! The gates! Were home!" Naruto ran ahead.

"Naruto! Calm down. We won't get there any faster than now, even if you run the whole way to the Hokage tower. Slow down and take it easy. We still have to check-in at the gate." Ino shouted happily.

She held Sakura's hand and kept her on track through the gates. It had been nearly six months since she had left with Sasuke. Had she known just how he was, she would have never left with him. He was all sorts of screwed up and abusive. She would not return to his service. She was free of him as far as she was concerned.

The group walked together and checked in at the gate. With many 'thankful you have returned" for Sakura. Apparently, the hospital had not received well to Sakura's absence and she would be a relive to many of the other doctors on staff. The group then headed toward Hokage tower to debrief as well as see what else they needed to do. The walk was long, looking at all of the shops that had changed in the last six months. Ichiraku had finally expanded to an actual sit-down place, not just the bar that it had been before.

Behind her, Sasuke walked. Brooding over the fact that Sakura seemed so different in the few weeks that he had been missing of her presence. She was feistier, meaner, and worst of all, she seemed to have her own sense of herself again. He'd almost managed to beat that out of her. She had become for the most part compliant to his demands. Just a little bit of that fire had remained in her eyes when he lost her to Itachi. He would need to snuff it out again. Oh, how fun that would be. All the things he would do to see her covered in the loveliest color red.

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Once they got to the tower Tsunade greeted them on the ground floor, unable to contain her joy at seeing her student.

"Sakura! Welcome home!" She said as she gave Sakura a big hug.

"Shisu. Thanks for sending people in to get me." Sakura whispered as she hugged back "I need to talk to you after the team debriefs. Keep Ino as well."

"Very well dear. Onward to the debriefing."

…. several hours later….

"That's all guys. Sakura, Ino. You two stay. Everyone else, go home and get a good rest. Good job, tomorrow is another day." Tsunade dismissed them.

"Hai!" they all said as they left.

"What's going on? Why was I held back?" Ino asked as she sat back down.

"Sakura asked for you to stay. What's going on Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"The contract. It's null right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. I gave you over to Sasuke, as per the contract. The fact that he lost you is all on him. You are free of him and his contract. I can burn the damn thing if you like."

"No. keep it. We may well need it. In fact, hide it. Somewhere he could never find it. I'm going home. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed." Sakura said as she got up.

"Ino. Go with her home. Stay with her a while. I need to make sure she's okay. I'll schedule a visit with a shrink for her tomorrow." Tsunade said as she sent the two out of the room.

They walked together talking about all the things that had happened over the past few months. Sakura told Ino about her own adventures with Itachi. When they arrived at Sakura's house Ino asked if she could come in for a cup of tea and a movie. She really wanted to spend some time with her best friend. They spent the next few hours dusting everything off and getting things set back up. New sheets on the bed, cleaning dishes and even did some laundry.

"Ino. It's late. Go home and get some rest. I'll meet you for brunch tomorrow. At our normal place, normal time." Sakura said as she shooed out Ino for the night.

"Fine but if you don't show up on time, I'm coming in for you."

Sakura laughed and sent Ino on her way. Closing the door and locking it tight. She then when around locking all the windows. Trying to create a safe space in her own home. What she didn't notice was the fact that the demon was already in her home. His eyes shone red with furry. She would not be safe in her own home again.


	15. A Village stands behind no ninja

Sakura finished locking up and went to run herself a bath. Grabbing her bath salts, she dredged the tub full of the bag and stripped down her clothes. Stepping into the tub she washed until her skin was bright red. She stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself. She grabbed out some clean clothes and got dressed.

"Sakura."

Her head flew back from putting on her pants to find Sasuke sitting on her bed. He had removed his shirt and sat there looking very pissed. She could feel his anger emanating off of him in waves. His eyes had long since bleed to red and she could feel that this would not be a conversation type of meeting.

"Sasuke. Get out." Sakura's voice rang out with confidence.

"No. You belong to me. Get over here. Now."

"I belong to no one. We filled our end of the deal, the fact that you lost me is your problem. I am free and I wish for you to leave my home." Sakura said as she grabbed some sleeping clothes out from her dresser.

That was the wrong thing to say. Within seconds Sasuke had Sakura pinned against the wall. Her face toward the wall. He held her hands above her head, his breath-holding steady on her neck. She could feel his body holding her in place. The only problem was, she was no longer helpless. She could fight back. Itachi had taken time between his healings to help her train. She threw her head back and felt a satisfying crunch as her head connected with Sasuke's nose. At that moment she felt Sasuke's hand lessen on her as he hissed in pain. She used that moment to push herself up and over Sasuke. Grabbing his hand she used his own weight to pin him to the floor. Sitting on top of him she felt triumphant.

"Not so shabby huh Sasuke?" Sakura said as she smiled.

"You're still useless," Sasuke said as he poofed into smoke.

Looking around for him, she noted that she was alone in the room. She could still feel his chakra in the house so she went on the hunt. He would not get the drop on her again. She quickly got dressed and left the bedroom. The house that she lived in was one that had been willed to her when her parents had passed. She had lost them not too long before Sasuke had shown back up in her life. She had grown up in this house. Some of her most precious memories lived in this house. She was not leaving again.

"Sasuke. Come out come out wherever you are. I'm gonna throw you really fucking far." Sakura sang out as she wandered through her house.

She could feel his aura all around, however this time, she wasn't scared. She would win this fight. She saw the briefest of movement from her right, just in time to deflect a punch thrown at her from the shadows. Smirking she used her arm to throw it away from her and then sent one in of her own. Her chakra fulled fist connecting with a grunt. Sasuke falling out of the shadows from the hit to his arm. She had felt the bones break.

"Oh lookie. I found an Uchiha." Sakura said with mock delight.

He looked at her with anger in his eyes, his arm really freaking hurt. How could this mouse of a girl hurt him? She would not get away with this.

He stood tall and moved his shoulders back. Making several clones, he sent them on her while he watched. Her fighting style had changed and he needed to learn it if he was going to gain the upper hand. He watched as she quickly took out his clones and was coming after him. He had learned all he needed to know. Grabbing her arm as she swung at him, he threw her to his left and through several walls. The walls crumbling around as well as on top of her. She had landed in the bathroom, specifically in the tub, which was now in several pieces.

He walked into the falling apart room and grabbed Sakura off of the broken chards of her tub using her neck. He now held her up in the air using just his left hand. Sakura was gasping for air and grabbing at his hand.

"Are you going to listen now?" Sasuke sneered at the gasping kunoichi.

Without warning, a new enemy entered the field. Finding the side of Sasuke's face with her punch, Sakura sent him flying again through several more walls of her family home. Her home was being shattered into a million pieces but damnit if she wasn't going to be free of Uchiha control. She followed suit with several kicks to the various appendages of Sasuke. Sending him flying further through the house. She didn't stop there. She continued to hit him with barrage after barrage of hits. Eventually, she hit the outside world and sent him flying through the air one last time. Watching as his body hit the ground with a satisfying crunch.

Her family home finally crumbled behind her as she stepped out of it. She had destroyed the last thing her parents had given her. At least it died for a good cause. Sasuke would likely never bother her again. That is if he could ever stand again. She knew she had broken many bones. Looking over at his limp body she checked for a pulse. While weak it was there, she knew he would not die of any of his injuries but she would heal the more detrimental ones but he would live with his bruises. At least until he went to the hospital. As she leaned down to heal him his eyes flashed open. His hand grabbing hers he threw her into the neighbor's house.

"Sakura. Stop this. It will be so much easier on us both and the neighbors if you quit fighting me." Sasuke said as he stood, clutching his shoulder that was broken.

"No. I refuse to go back to the way things were. I had no power over my own life and I refuse to let that happen again. My life is my own!" Sakura said as she flung herself at him.

Suddenly there was a flash and between the two stood both Kakashi who had grabbed Sakura's fist to stop her. Behind him stood Naruto who had Sasuke on the ground to stop him.

"Sakura. I got this. Put away the battle-ax." Kakashi said as he pinned Sakura against the wall.

"Keep him away from me. I don't ever want to see him again." She screeched.

"Don't worry. We saw everything. Tsunade is waiting for you at her house. Sasuke is going to be sent to the psych ward for an evaluation. Something seems to be wrong with him." Kakashi said as he handed Naruto a syringe.

"I'll head there now, we need to talk."

"Kakashi sama, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. Your presence has been requested at the tower of the council. Hokage-sama will meet you there. We have a problem." An anbu appeared, reported and left.

"What could possibly be so important," Naruto said as he hauled an unconscious Sasuke to his shoulder.

"It might have something to do with me." Was all that Sakura said as she walked next to Kakashi.

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"Look. Its Itachi's tracker crows. They never go very far from him and he doesn't use them lightly. He's here. I doubt he's alone." Sakura pointed out a blackbird with red eyes.

"Crap. Can I just get one day where people don't want to kill us?" Kakashi sniffed.

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Sakura knocked on the door of the council room and was greeted by the somber face of Shizune. She let them into the room. At the very far end sat the elders of the village. All in a row and Tsunade was arguing with them. She was pissed about something.

"Sakura. Glad you could join us. The rest of you sit there." One of the elders pointed at some very uncomfortable looking chairs. "Sakura. Come stand here. You are the big topic of discussion at 2 am this morning."

"What's going on? Why is everyone here?" Sakura asked as she stood where instructed.

"The Akasuki have surrounded the village. They are making demands. Specifically for you. Surprisingly, they want you when they have been after Naruto for years. They are demanding that we give you up, or risk damage to the entire village. Tsunade seems to think that it would be better to keep you than to turn you over. What say you." The lead elder, a man with a beard all the way to the floor asked.

"Why me? And to be honest I agree with her. We have enough manpower in this room to take out half of them. Not to mention that the village has 80% of its ninja power inside right now. We could take em. I am not some pawn to be batted around and given away at the will of anyone. I have rights." Sakura took her stand.

"You are a ninja in this village. You will do as commanded by your kage and your council! You have not been of your own volition since you joined the ninja academy. From that day you have belonged to this village. You, while a very powerful ninja, have no say." The councilwoman shouted at her.

"We have only just gotten her back! Her recovery mission ended yesterday! There hasn't even been a debrief!" Tsunade threw a fit.

"You have no choice. One of them is already on their way to collect her. We have already accepted their terms. Guards! Chain her." The lead councilman ordered.

"Hold up! I refuse! I will denounce Konoha if you follow through with it at all. I will not be used!" Sakura shouted as she went into a battle stance.

"Sakura." A velvety voice stopped her.

Turning around slowly she looked into the black eyes of Itachi Uchiha. He was standing there right behind her, walking toward her. She watched as he created the signs needed to re-activate her ownership mark. Feeling like fire around her neck again, sakura stood resolutely in the middle of the room as her mark became visible to all.

"What the…..Sakura. Your neck!" Naruto exclaimed as he took a closer look.

"Naruto. Back off. Itachi. Don't make me do this….." Sakura pleaded with Itachi.

"Sakura. You know what I want. Get over here." Itachi commanded.

The entire room watched as her head fell and she did as ordered. Walking over to Itachi slowly, sakura finished out his command by standing behind him. Tears streaming down her face.

"Are we good council?" Itachi asked as he placed his arm around Sakuras shaking shoulders.

"We are good. Take her and go. Take the rest of your army with you. Leave Konoha in peace. After you sign this document that is." The lead councilwoman said as she tossed a scroll at Itachi.

"I do not consent to this! This is not ok-" sakura started, only to have herself thrown against the wall and held there.

Itachi had thrown her against a wall and was holding her there by her neck. His arm stretched out, not holding tight enough that she couldn't breathe but tight enough that she was held in place and that she stopped what she was saying. The room went silent as he held her there. Even the words in the councilwoman's mouth died on her tongue. Naruto was in shock and even Sasuke who had just opened his eyes was unmoving. Tsunade looked like she could kill and was being held back by Kakashi and Shizune holding her back.

"Shut up Sakura. Do you hear me? Not another word until we leave this village. Go pack up your things and meet me at the gate in two hours. Not a minute more. Do you understand me?" Itachi whispered in her ear as he let her drop down to the floor.

"Yes" Was all she responded with.

"That was unnecessary Itachi. She would have had no choice but to obey with the mark on her neck, it was unnecessary to throw her into that wall. She won't even get a chance to say goodbye to her family. Tsunade has been a mother to her since she lost hers. Naruto is like a brother to her, they are the family that she got to choose and they mean everything to her." Kakashi said as he helped pick Naruto up off of the floor.

"I understand that. She needs to understand that the village does not care about her. She is nothing but a commodity to be used up and then thrown away whenever it suits the village. I know you already understand this, you past being similar in many ways to my own. Here, do with this what you will." Itachi said as he tossed an old scroll that was battered.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked as he caught it.

At this moment the council had already run out, their tails between their legs and the room were quickly clearing, most people wanting to be able to say goodbye to Sakura since they knew where she would be. Sasuke was still sitting in his chair, looking at his brother with murder in his eyes.

"The truth."


	16. Change of Heart

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. This one is a dozy! Hang on to your britches! The slow burn comes to fire! As always, I don't own Naruto, just this storyline. Have fun!**

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According to Itachi, the scroll Kakashi held in his palm had truth in it. Most likely one that only a very privileged few knew. Kakashi poofed home leaving Sasuke to be dealt with by a very pissed off Tsunade. He grabbed a bottle of water off of his counter and sat at his table. Contrary to popular belief, Kakashi did not indulge in alcohol often. Most times it was light social drinking, but other than that he drank mostly water, and the occasional milk. He popped open the seal and laid his blood down on the blank paper. Watching as his blood disappeared and ink began to replace it, he realized just what truth Itachi had been talking about. This scroll held the key to the massacre that Itachi had single-handedly undertaken all those years ago.

He unrolled the scroll as he read. It was very thorough and clear as to what it was, he was supposed to do. To protect Sasuke from even knowing about the coup that was being planned by his own family, he would take them all out. Effectively ending his line as well as Sasuke's line. He was to kill every Uchiha other than himself and his little brother. It would be done under the cover of night and when it was all said and done, Itachi was to run as a fugitive from his village. Never to see the gates to Konoha again. The village would name him a traitor and would no longer support him in any way. In fact, they would eventually hunt him down to his eventual death. The only thing that Itachi would get out of this arrangement would be the fact that Sasuke would have been raised safely in the village, as a ward of the state, but still safe.

Kakashi couldn't even believe his own eyes as he read this. This scroll would absolve him of everything. There were even instructions within the mission to seek out and locate the current Akatsuki for the village to keep a closer eye on the growing faction of the rogue ninja. At the time this had been issued, that was all the Akatsuki was. Just a minor small faction that was hidden out somewhere near Amekagure. This would make it so he could even come back to the village. He would no longer be considered a threat to anyone as he would be back under the metaphorical roof of Konoha. However, it would be the same one that threw him to the side and made his kill hundreds of his own people.

Many of the current council members are still the same as they were back then. A few have changed over but not enough to make a vote count. He would be able to bring home Sakura with this kind of information. Now the only way to do it would be an all-nighter with several people. But they would do it. They would bring Sakura home once and for all. Just a few things were standing in his way. The fact that Shikamaru really enjoyed his sleep, Tsunade was most likely drunk off her ass with Shizune trying to help her, and that last big one, Sasuke Uchiha. How would the boy react to new knowledge?

Kakashi immediately got up from his table and grabbed a bottle of Sake from his cabinet. He kept a stock of it for when Tsunade came over for business. She would come to his place to escape Shizune, and while here, if he didn't have sake, he'd get yelled at for several hours. Running out his door he made sure he had everything he would need. Tonight, was the beginning of a very long night.

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Itachi was waiting for her by the gate when she arrived. She hadn't been home very long and yet it seemed almost like a foreign land to her as she walked by places, she had known her whole life. Ichiraku ramen house, the school she learned from Iruka in, even the training ground that Kakashi had used to tie Naruto to a post when they almost failed their first test. Everything was so surreal. As if it had happened to someone else. Now she had been traded by her village. The life of one to protect the many. It made sense on paper. Even she could see that.

The walk was long and slow but necessary. For some reason, she thought she would never come back home. She had already given her keys to Ino and told Ino to move into her place. Ino had been wanting to move out of her parent's place anyway. Sakura's home may have been partially destroyed but it was fully paid off and would only need to be repaired. Sakura figured that there was no use in letting the place stay vacant. This way at least it would go to good use.

She walked up to him and he tossed her a long coat. It was red, like her shirt. It had the Uchiha logo on it instead of any clouds like his or even her own shirt which held her own clans' logo.

"What's this?" She asked as she held up the red silky yet thick fabric.

"A coat of your own. It's cold where we are going and I don't need you getting cold and slowing us down in any way. Kisame is coming along with us. Put on the coat and let's go." Itachi's cold voice cut into her.

"Fine."

"Itachi. Grab the girl and let's go. I don't even know why we had to make a detour here to get her. You got your girl now let's get moving" Kisame impatiently barked from the left.

"hmm."

"We literally have days' worth of travel that needs to be done and your little thing with pinkie took all of the rest time we had."

"I know. Move Sakura." Was all he said as he took off.

Three days of straight travel was very hard on the girl. She wasn't used to so much travel at once without any rest. She had to burn through chakra reserves in order just to keep herself going. When they stopped, they were in a very small village. Not far from a large one. In a land rich in hot springs.

"We can rest here a day or two. We have made back up some of the time lost and I know for a fact that I will enjoy the hot water. Akatsuki owns this one too, means we get the royal treatment for free." Kisame said as they walked into the building. As soon as they stepped foot inside of the place, perfume assaulted Sakura's nose like a waterfall. Women were lounging everywhere. Made up with the most elaborate eye makeup Sakura had ever seen in her life. Kimono of all different color filled her vision as the women flocked to the two Akatsuki members that stood next to her. One of the women in her rush to make it to Itachi's side grabbed the shocked Sakura's shoulder and shoved her to the ground. She only just managed to prevent her face from slamming to the ground by throwing out her arms to catch herself. She looked at the woman who shoved her.

She was tall and graceful looking. Slim figure with long raven black hair, that had highlights of lavender within the silky strands. Her kimono was also purple, though made with various shades and was so elaborately embroidered with red thread that Sakura couldn't make out the pattern. The woman's face had a slight cat-like look to it. Thin lips with a set of small eyes that held pupils the color of amber with gold flecks. Her long slender fingers were curled around Itachi's arm, nails almost digging into his arm.

He moved to push the woman off of himself when the woman in question was suddenly gone from his sight. Looking to his left, Sakura held the girl by the collar of her handspun kimono against a wall. He smirked as she yelled at the woman about her manors and that she should have more respect for herself. After a few minutes, he watched as she let the woman go, flying right out of the room without so much as a second glance to him.

"Sakura. That wasn't very nice." Itachi chuckled.

"Donno who the hell told you I was nice. Look is there anywhere I can rest? I feel like I've been in the forest of death for three weeks. I am dirty and sweaty and just want to sleep." Sakura said defiantly.

"Fine. I'll show you your room. From there you will do as you wish. We will be here for three days. I have business to conduct in the nearby village." Itachi said as he led the kunoichi off.

They left behind a very puzzled Kisame who soon was able to figure out what the two others had yet to learn. He smiled a little and pulled the woman who was hanging on his arm into his own room to have a little fun.

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Not long after their talk, Sakura and Itachi had split paths and she was now in her own personal hot spring scrubbing away a weeks' worth of grime from her skin. Her force also helping her to shed off some extra dead skin. She soaked for a few more minutes before getting out and drying off. She had to admit, it was a nice perk to be able to use a hot spring whenever she wanted to. It seemed like joining the Akatsuki gained would gain her a great deal of things. Perhaps she should look into seeing if she could get Itachi to tell her anymore about the luxuries that he was able to take advantage of.

She sat down at the vanity that was attached to the wall and brushed her hair. It was extremely long now and she didn't even know what to do with it. It was well overdue for a haircut and she didn't have a way to do that. She decided that she would see if Itachi or Kisame would lend her a kunai so she could cut it. She got dressed in the silk kimono that must have been laid out at some point while she was bathing. It was breathtaking. Soft, shiny, burgundy-colored fabric that felt like heaven to the touch. A dragon was embroidered on each sleeve of the kimono, one in gold and one in silver. Sakura petals fell down the length of the fabric. Along the back was another thing, the Uchiha clan symbol stood out against the fabric. Surrounding the insignia was another dragon that flowed through the remaining fabric, this one made of white. It stood out brilliantly against the burgundy fabric of the kimono. The dragon held onto the Uchiha crest with its talons, almost as though it was protecting it. Fire surged forth from its mouth around the crest and throughout the rest of the dress. It was truly one of the most breathtaking pieces she had ever seen and must have cost a fortune to have made.

From the silk to the thread, everything was handwoven. Not made on a machine like many other clothes were made. Someone took the time to stitch every piece of this kimono's embroidery. She savored the way that it felt against her skin. It was probably the most exquisite thing she had ever seen, let alone worn. She sat back down and went about pinning up her hair in an elaborate style to match the kimono she had been given to wear. A pin that held her hair back was crusted with jade in the shape of a bird. Held in its beak was a ruby ribbon that jingled when she moved her head. Happy with the way she looked, Sakura left her room and headed to the dining area to meet up with her new travel companions.

What she didn't know is that Kisame had made it his mission to get Itachi very drunk that night. She also didn't know that Itachi wasn't the one who commissioned the kimono. As she walked in, Itachi was already on his third cup of sake. She quietly entered the room and strode up to the table. Kisame noticed her first and smiled.

"Hey, pinkie. What are you all dressed up for?"

"This was left on my bed for me so I assumed that I was supposed to wear it." She replied as she grabbed the sake bottle.

She refilled Itachi's glass first and then filled her own. It was then that he looked at her and summarily choked on his sake. The sake burning its way down his nasal cavity as he looked the girl over. Her pink hair was held up by a pin that looked suspiciously like one of his ravens. The kimono she wore was a thing from another world, his clan's insignia stood out proudly on her back, and for some reason, he liked it there. The kimono showed just enough of her cleavage to give him a tease of what was under there. Was the sake speaking or was he actually interested in the little Konoha kunoichi? He decided to answer the question at a later time as he felt his lungs burning for air.

"You okay Itachi?" She asked.

"Hmm. Another." Was his only answer.

The three of them talked and drank for the next several hours until Kisame took away another girl and bid them goodnight. They had consumed an exurbanite amount of sake and Itachi was beginning to understand why the stuff was not allowed in the bases. He had not felt like this in years. The carefree feeling was intoxicating on its own, add to that the fact that Sakura was also intoxicating was maddening.

"Itachi, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Sakura said as she got up.

The very next thing that she felt was Itachi's hand gripping her wrist. He pulled her down with a gentle tug, having her fall directly into his lap. He looked at her face, so perfectly framed by her pink hair, cheeks the color of fallen plum blossoms from the sake she herself had consumed. He couldn't stop himself. He had to have her. Closing the gap between the two of them, he was greeted with a hand.

"Itachi. No." Sakura refused as she made movements to get off of his lap.

Her moves only served to rile him up even more. Stirring lust within his eyes. He grabbed her arms in one hand and pinned her to the floor beneath him. He watched as she writhed and struggled to get rid of his hand from hers with eyes clouded by lust. She was breathtaking in this kimono and he was going to kill Kisame for it, or thank him after he had fucked Sakura into submission. He leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss, molding his lips to her own which at first were no responsive. After a few seconds, she relented, Itachi slid his tongue along Sakura's lower lip and she opened her mouth. He dominated her, leaving her defenseless against his onslaught. His tongue exploring every crevice of her, she tasted like cherries. It was the most intoxicating taste he had ever encountered. She whimpered underneath him, egging him on with her voice. He pulled back, her lips bruised and red from his.

"Sakura. Go to my room. I will be there momentarily." He said as he huffed and got up.

He was going to get some sushi. He watched as a dazed Sakura walked off in the general direction of his room. He was pissed.

Several minutes later, she reached his room and she simply sat on the bed. Not knowing what to do as he had only told her to go to his room. She only had to wait a few minutes for him to show up. He opened the door with snap and slammed it shut. His hands shaking from both fury and lust, he turned to look at her. It was as if a lion was looking at its prey. HE was looking at her so predatorily. It was both unnerving as well as arousing. He was quick to close the distance between the two of them. His lips sealing against her own in a raw need. Itachi would not allow her to escape him. She had only had just enough to give in. She molded her lips to his with reckless abandon. Arching her back to get closer to him He kicked open her legs with his knee and grabbed her hands. This time he was ready, a length of black silk was tied around them and then summarily tied to the headboard above her head. Puffs of breath fanned her face as he grabbed her hair and pulled the bird from it, letting her hair flow freely along the purple silk of his sheets.

Sakura's breath was in short bursts by this point as he touched her lips with his fingers. They were red, lipstick smeared from his kisses. He liked this look; she was coming undone from just his kisses. Itachi wondered what else he could do to the woman who lay under him completely at his mercy. He used his hand to turn her head to better get at her neck. Kissing is way down the column of her neck greeted him with soft sighs and a particularly strong moan when he touched her pulse. He grabbed at her kimono, almost ripping the fabric in his haste to see more of her. Her chest heaved under him as he was able to free the top of her kimono from its bindings. Her breasts stood out brilliantly against the raw redness of the fabric she wore. Each nipple perfectly round and dusky pink. They stood at attention for him and he had no choice. Palming the silky skin, he found that she liked her nipples to be played with. Moans growing louder as he rolled the bud within his calloused fingers. He latched onto the other with his mouth and gave it the same with his tongue. Her breaths were full of moans and breathy calls of his name.

Itachi could feel the budge in his paints grow with each passing moan from the writhing woman underneath him. He sat up and pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it across the room. Sakura would be the death of him, he knew that, yet he couldn't stop. He undid the tie that held the rest of the kimono. The fabric falling to the side to reveal his prize. Her creamy thighs held his sight for a second before he ripped the lacy underwear from her. Itachi was greeted with soft pink hair that surrounded her lower lips. Swollen and drenched already. He could smell her arousal for him.

He dragged his fingers through her folds, feeling the wetness coat his finger as well as hearing her pleasure at the motion. He repeated the motion several times, listing to her moans get louder and more wanton with each move he made. His fingers were covered in her juices, he slipped on into her cavern and was rewarded with the most wonderful noise. Somewhere between a moan and a whimper. He pumped his finger a few times and felt for her nub with his thumb. Upon finding it and flicking said nub, Sakura almost screamed. He added a second and a third finger to the first, he continued his motion until he felt her walls clamp down on him and watched as she fell over the wall into ecstasy. Knowing she was now ready for him, he freed himself from his pants and undergarments and grabbed his pulsating cock in his hand.

Her arms still locked above her head, he positioned himself at her entrance. He looked at her eyes, emerald green was still clouded from both her high as well as the lust she felt for him. He pushed in and went full to the hilt. It was then that he realized, she had been a virgin. He could see the pain cross her face, he stopped.

"Shit, Sakura, why didn't you tell me?" He asked in pants.

He wanted so badly to move.

"IT wouldn't have mattered anyway." She replied as he felt her chakra surround him. "Now move, otherwise this could be very unpleasant for you."

"Orders like that will have to be paid for. You don't get to order me around." Itachi smirked.

"Move."

"As you wish." He said as he slammed into her with all his might.

He pumped in and out of her with all of the fury he felt at Kisame for setting this up. Pounding into her recklessly over and over. Her entrance clutching onto him as if he were part of her. Sucking him in again and again. He could feel that tingle in the back of his mind. Knowing what was coming, he pulled out just in time and shot his seed all over her face, hair and chest Covering her with his seed. He had watched her cum just before he had. Her face twisted with pleasure.

"Sakura. Go wash up. I need the sheets to be changed." He said as he rolled off of her and grabbed a nearby towel.

He threw it at her and got up. He made a quick phone call and there was soon a maid there changing his sheets.

"Move her stuff into here. I would also keep the sheets handy. We may need it a few times tonight." He smirked.

She was a vixen in bed, and he intended to see her writhing underneath him a few more times before the night was over.

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 **And that is all for today guys! We finally meet a sexy ending. I have been bouncing between the two Uchiha's for some time, but a bottle of wine and a few hours of free time gave me my choice. I hope you liked it. It is my first time writing anything like this. I am far more comfortable throwing her through a few walls than having her groan in pleasure. Let me know what you think. I know it was a little OOC on Itachi but I needed him drunk for him to finally realize how he felt about the little vixen he was keeping at his side. Till next time! Oh, and before I forget, I have a second story that I started when I got blocked on this one. Check it out if you got time. It's different from this one. See ya next time!**


	17. A New Days Dawns

**New chapter time guys. I hope that the last chapter was well received. It seems like it for the most part. As always, I don't own Naruto.**

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When Sakura woke the next morning, she was sorer than she had ever been. Everything hurt. It wasn't a bad hurt though. She felt more relaxed than she had in a long time, regardless of how sore she was. She rolled over on the bed and sat up. After a good look around the room, she realized it was not her room. She grabbed a shirt off the ground and put it on and looked around. It was then that she noticed Itachi laying in the bed she just came out of, the sheets tracking just around his waist. His back stood out along the bedsheets, bare of anything covering it. Dimples just slightly standing out right above the sheets.

"Shit. I slept with him. I don't even remember it!" Sakura whispered to no-one.

"I remember it. I never knew you could be like that. So willing. Come back to bed and I will happily show you." Itachi smirked as he rolled over and grabbed her.

"Itachi. Stop, please. I just need a little time to figure things out. I just can't believe I slept with you." Sakura said as she pushed away his arms.

"More than once. Just so you are aware." He said as he pulled her down again and pinned her. "Look, I know it isn't ideal. In any realm. But you were drunk and so was I. I don't drink often at all anymore and my tolerance wasn't what it used to be, that being said, there is no way for us to go back to how it used to be. You must know that."

"Itachi. Let me go. This isn't a game. This is my life. And it isn't even mine anymore! Let me go." Sakura shouted at him as she struggled.

"Sakura. Stop. Now" He commanded.

Feeling the burn around her neck she did. She looked at him with fire in her eyes, different from last night. She was angry with him. He let go of her and she pushed him off of her and stood up. She had grabbed his shirt to put on. It reached to just about to her mid-thigh. She looked around and grabbed what was left of her kimono and left the room.

He went and took a shower. Mind running everywhere that it could. He couldn't understand it. He had never even been into a woman before. Sure, he'd had sex. Women tended to throw themselves at him and he took advantage of that fact all the time. With her it just seemed…. different. He would re-visit this train of thoughts later. He could feel Kisame's chakra approaching the bedroom. The womping that he had given him the night before still fresh.

"Kisame. What is it?" Itachi asked as he wrapped a towel around his waist.

"I see you enjoyed your night. Watched her run out of here like a banshee out of hell. You finally nail that?" Kisame said as he sat in the chair by the desk.

"That is none of your business. I would appreciate it if you didn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong." Itachi said as he sat on the bed. "What do you want."

"Leader called. Said we need to get a move on our mission. Pack it up and get her moving. Remember that she is needed to heal him. She is one of the only people in this world who might be able to save his life. We are running out of time." Kisame said as he stood and threw a shirt at Itachi.

"Fine. I'll get her moving. Get out and we will meet you in a few hours."

Kisame simply smirked and left the room. Itachi gave Sakura some time alone. He knew she would need it after what happened last night. He did, however, have a mission, and she was vital to it. The leader was dying and Sakura's original purpose had been in taking her to heal him. Itachi had simply made a detour in that mission for his own health. No one else in the Akatsuki knew the leader was sick besides him and Kisame. He used a jutsu that located her and made his way to the park. She couldn't leave him so it made finding her relatively easy. He looked at her, she had changed into he battles gear and the jacket he had given her. They having been washed while they were drinking.

She stood underneath a tree; its branches were dropping leaves all around her. He walked up to her and touched her shoulder. She was crying, but not in a horrifying way.

"Sakura. It's time to go." Itachi said as he handed her some fabric to dry her eyes with.

"Fine. Let's go." She said dejectedly.

"What's going on? You can tell me while you pack up." Itachi said as he walked beside her.

"It's nothing. Let's just get moving. I know we have somewhere to be." Sakura said as she packed.

She grabbed the silk kimono and looked at him.

"Pack it if you want it. It was pretty on you." He said as he sat on the bed.

She folded it and placed it in her bag and grabbed her hairbrush and finished packing.

"That's all. I've got nothing more." Sakura said with a heavy voice.

"You need to get whatever this is out before we leave. Where we are arriving, you can't be like this. I need you hard as stone." Itachi said as he stood.

"Why? I'm just here to please you after all. My village gave me to you. I am worth nothing." Sakura shouted at him.

"While partially true. The sex was not intended. Chalk that up to Kisame and sake. You're here to heal me. That's all. Once you have completed that, you are free to go. Where ever you want." Itachi said as he walked toward her.

"Anywhere. You promise?" Sakura said as she looked at him.

"Anywhere. Once you have finished healing me. I promise you can go." He said as he began to walk away.

"Fine. When is the next session?"

"Tonight. When we stop traveling tonight you can start."

"Okay."

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"Kakashi. This had better be good. I have several bottles of sake sitting on my counter ready for me." Tsunade said as she let him into her home.

Behind him stood both Shikamaru as well as Iruka. Kakashi had chosen him to keep them all level headed. While he loved Sakura just as much as the rest of them, he would be an easy level head because of his everyday job. He put the bottle of sake he had brought on the counter and threw the scroll at her. Shizune grabbed a few glasses and poured some of the bottles in each. He watched as her face changed from anger to awe to amusement. She laughed as she threw back the sake.

"Kakashi! Where in the hell did you get this?" She cackled.

"Itachi himself. So, can we do it? Can we bring her home?" Kakashi asked.

"With this, we could bring the oh so high and mighty council to its knees. This will do far more than just bring her home. This will give me a way to actually get some things done. Shikamaru. Go get your father. I am going to need both of you to figure this out." Tsunade said as she pulled up a chair and sat down.

A few hours passed as the group poured over old texts of laws as well as old mission scrolls from Itachi's time in the Anbu. Eventually they found enough pieces to incriminate the council into having strong armed the 3rd Hokage into making the boy murder his clan. They had enough beyond that as well, once they started looking. So much more that had been taken care of with far more strength than needed. When diplomatic means would have easily fixed it, they went for a more warlike approach. Tsunade spent some time cleaning up her evidence and looked outside her window. It had long since begun to turn to morning. Most civilians would still be sleeping.

"Get some sleep. Feel free to do so here. You have all earned it. Thank you." Tsunade said as she got up to head into the Hokage tower.

Kakashi stood and began walking behind her, Shikamaru and his father also followed. Shizune also followed along with Iruka trailing behind her. Everyone wanted to see how this would end. They all wanted to see the council step down. Tsunade already had several people she wanted to nominate for the new council. Because while she did not care for the current council, it was best to have a system of checks and balances for power. When she arrived, several other ninjas had joined the march. There was now a small army walking behind her. As she arrived, the council members were just settling in.

"Hokage-sama. What's going on? Why are all of these people here." The lead woman asked rudely.

"These people are here in order to watch as a new council rises. Your time for power had ended." Tsunade said as she handed them each a copy of her findings.

Everything was laid out, neat and easy to read. All of their mistakes, every mission that should never have been instated, everything. They all looked at their respective stacks and then each other.

"What is the meaning of all of this? What have you done?" One of the older side men side.

"This is the dawn of a new era for the village. One where we can trust those in power to do the right thing. Not the thing that lines their pockets. Step down willingly and I will make sure none of this makes it to the civilians." Tsunade threatened.

"You have no one who would be able to take out places. How would you even- "the lead woman began.

"I will take your seat." Kakashi cut her off.

"I will take one as well." Said Iruka.

"I wouldn't mind not having to go out on missions anymore." Shikamaru exacerbated.

"I could do with a sitting job as well." Ino's father said as he stepped forward.

A few more here and there stepped forward and asked to take up the vacant seats.

"Not all of you will be replaced either. There are a few of you who have had no dealing with that time and I see no reason to call for your replacement. Those of you who did not get a packet will get to keep your jobs. The rest I would suggest you pack up and leave by the end of lunch. I have people who need your offices." Tsunade smirked.

She and the others watched as several members got up and left. The lead councilwoman being one of the last to do so. When they were gone, the new members took their seats. Tsunade walked to the middle of their desks and stood there.

"I move to strike Itachi Uchiha's banishment from the village." Tsunade's singular voice rang loud and substantially.

"Approved." Several voices rang together.

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 **Alright. That is all for now. It was so hard to write this. After the major plot pull from last chapter. Hope you like. Reviews are like cookies. You can never get enough!**


	18. Homecoming

**Hey guys, long time no chapter. I am so sorry this took so long. That being said it is going to be the norm until after sometime in March. I am deep in wedding planning and I only have 4 more months. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I really enjoyed writing it. As always. I don't own Naruto!**

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Sakura set out her needed equipment for her to begin healing Itachi. She sat it all on her trey and helped Itachi take off his cloak and shirt. Laying him on the mattress, she got to work. His eyes were far better than they were before and were much easier to navigate due to the heavy treatment she had already completed. She completed the needed rest of his healing and his eyes were good as new. Spreading her chakra down to the rest of him, she took a look at how he was healing the rest of the way. By then, Itachi had fallen fast asleep. According to many ninjas, Sakura's chakra was so soothing they could simply sleep though her examinations. She looked at his lungs and found the surgery almost fully healed up. For now, she started working on the scar tissue that had been created by the original healing process. She had been able to remove a good amount of it during his surgery, but some of it had been too close to the artery's to be removed by the blade, so they would have to be melted away using chakra. After 12 hours of grueling work, she finally was done with the melting stage of his tissue. She would continue later on finishing up with the full healing and reconstruction of the muscles that she had to cut out as well.

She cleaned up and sat down in a nearby chair. They had made it to a small in on their travels and had gained two rooms. One for her and Itachi, another for Kisame. It had long turned light before she fell asleep. She had watched of Itachi until her eyes fell closed from chakra extortion. Very few hours would pass before she would be woken. She was woken by a knocking on the door. It was rapid and heavy. There were no screams within the village as it was as quiet as could be. Itachi made no move to wake and she got up. Woozy from chakra use, she opened the door and nearly screamed in delight at the person who was on the other side. Kakashi pulled her close and gave her a well-deserved, and tight hug.

"I'm so glad we found you. Is Itachi in there with you?" Kakashi asked a little wary of who else was in the room with her.

"Yes, he's asleep. How did you find me?" Sakura said as she ushered him into the room and checked Itachi, who was still sleeping soundly.

"Itachi gave me a tracker. It seems he wants to come home." Kakashi said as he sat down next to her.

"What do you mean Itachi gave you a tracker?" She asked.

He tossed her a small piece of metal that was warm. It held just the barest traces of both her chakra as well as Itachi's own chakra. It had led him to the two chakra's that were encased in it. It was a brilliant means of locating someone. Even if they were dead, as long as they had even a fiber of chakra left in them, the body would still be able to be found. It was unlike anything used in Konoha and would likely make tracking down their own ninja easier.

"Please tell me you're here to get me out of this?" Sakura asked him.

"Not exactly, I am actually here to deliver a message from the Hokage and the high council to Itachi himself. I would stop pretending to be asleep now. I have news for you." Kakashi said as he flung a kunai at Itachi's body.

"And what news could you have to deliver that was so important that you needed to wait until Kisame left to eat his breakfast?" Itachi asked as he slowly sat up and caught the kunai.

"Konoha has revoked your missing ninja status. You have been removed from all bingo books across the 5 nations. All that you were forced to do under the old council has been brought to light to all ninja. Every ninja down to those that are even in the academy. You have been absolved of it all. You are a free man. You are free to return home." Kakashi said with pride.

Sakura watched as Itachi's eyes went from tired to wider than she had ever seen them. It was then that she realized that his whole plan had been to test what kind of beast Konoha had become before he gave up his darkest secret. Sakura watched as he slowly got off the bed and breathed deeply, noting that he could, in fact, breathe deeply with no trouble at all and he grabbed his cloak and ring off of the chair and table they had been laid on. Itachi made hand signs for a very well know fire jutsu and threw both into the fireplace and summarily lit them ablaze.

"I am ready to go home. Sakura, pack quickly. I think it's time you returned home as well."

Sakura jumped up and threw her arms around Itachi's neck and quietly thanked him. His arms reaching around her lower back to hold her even closer to him. He looked over her shoulder at Kakashi who seemed to have a troubled look on his face. Knowing that look meant there would likely be some sort of problems that would face him when he got back to Konoha, he nodded to Kakashi. He hurried Sakura along in her packing and was sure to grab the kimono that had fallen out of her bag and stuffed it into his own. Within 5 minutes they were packed and ready to go.

"Sakura. If we get separated, do everything to get home. I will always meet you there. Stay away from Sasuke, something is not right with him." Itachi said as they set off, Kakashi in the front and Itachi taking the rear.

"I hear you. I don't want to be anywhere near him either. I'm sick and tired of him thinking he can boss me around because he thinks he owns me. I swear, I'll kill him if he tries." Sakura said as she flew through the forest.

"That won't be necessary. Sasuke has been remitted to a mental health section of the hospital. He's there in lockdown until they fix whatever is wrong with him." Kakashi said as he looked through the trees.

"Really now. That is interesting. I wouldn't mind taking part in watching over his medical re-habilitation." Sakura said with genuine interest.

"We shall see. It all depends on how things go once we get to the village." Kakashi and Itachi said at the same time.

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Several days of travel later brought them to the front gates of Konoha. Standing there just inside the gates stood Tsunade. Behind her stood the new council. There were few of the faces there that Itachi recognized other than Tsunade. There were a few members that he had noticed were new since the last time he had been in the village. Kakashi moved to stand within the ranks and he realized that the entire hierarchy had come to welcome Sakura home. She looked at him, likely looking for instructions as to what to do.

"Go." Was all he said and she was gone from his side.

The crowd moved toward her and she was engulfed. Hugs came from all sides beginning with Tsunade, who held her as close as she could. Tsunade cried into her hair and welcomed the girl home. Naruto next with his own version of love. Many others until there seemed to be no one left in the village that wasn't at the main gate. It was then that he felt her eyes on him. He looked at her and noticed she was making her way to him.

"It's time to go home. I know you don't know what the village is like now, and you likely have no real friends on the inside, but I can assure you one thing." She said as she drew her hand up to his cheek. "I will always be there for you. You did everything you could to protect both your village as well as your family. From now on, you are part of my family."

"Sakura, you know I can't remove the mark I made. Everyone knows what I've done to you. How can you be sure they won't string me up?" Itachi said as he moved into the village with her at his side again.

"I can answer that. I have disposed of the old council and everyone knows that what you did, was not your choice. You had tried to be as diplomatic as you could be. Your kage made the order. I made sure that everyone across the lands knows what happened. You are a free man according to all lands. Not just mine. I do have one question though." Tsunade told him.

"Name it. I will tell you anything." Itachi said as he looked up from Sakura.

"Where do you want to live? The Uchiha compound still stands as it did when you were a boy. It was cleaned up in hopes that it could be inhabited by another clan, however, no one wanted to live there. It's stood empty for nearly a decade now."

"I wouldn't mind living there. Ask Sakura though, as she will be living with me."

"I'm stuck with you so, Uchiha compound it is." Was her answer.

And so, the next chapter of her life began.

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 **That's it for now. This is not the end and yes, I know it was a mushy chapter, but there are still many things that need to be addressed! I will get back to the very core of the story next chapter. I still have many ideas for this story! As always, I hope you enjoy it!**


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